Through the Looking Glass
by Happy Feet
Summary: HPBtVS. Buffy and friends find themselves in the Magical World. And there's a war that they just dropped in on...the Scoobies are now asked to help keep Hogwarts and the rest of the world safe.ON HOLD
1. In the Beginning

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Summary: Buffy and friends find themselves in a magical world. Not only that, but they dropped in at the worst possible moment... right in the middle of a war. While in this new world the Scoobies are asked to save the world... again. Magical orbs, a godsend, evil wizards, a community in danger, peppermint potion, espionage, Dementors, and a few surprises around every corner.

Magic, comedy, action, mystery, and even some love... all in the very depths of this story.

Oh, and please don't be scared of the "length" of the story.

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Buffy/HP Crossover. Set after S7 in the Buffyverse, and after the defeat of Voldemort (everyone (ie: Buffy, Harry, Ron, etc... main characters, you know) is in their early twenties).

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Chapter 1

In the Beginning

Paris. The city of love.

Buffy rolled her eyes. Of all places for the vampires to be overrunning a city; they all chose Paris, France.

"The damn city of love. Dammit." Buffy griped as she closed the window that she had been looking out of. There really was no point in getting any fresh air; what with all the ooey-gooey, mushy-gushy love air.

Buffy had counted the amount of people walking hand-in-hand. She had stopped after hitting 68, considering the next number to be on the risqué radar.

Then again, Buffy could see why the vampires all flocked to Paris. Plenty of newlyweds wondering around at nights; all happy and giddy and then... _BAM_! Deader than pieces of... well, Buffy didn't want to think in highly gory terms.

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It's a good thing I'm only here for the weekend. Or else, I would go completely insane, Buffy thought.

"Buffy!"

Buffy jumped and whirled around to face a flushed Willow. Her red hair was bounding wildly around as she ran to Buffy.

"Jesus! Will, you scared me." Buffy let out a sigh and watched as her friend took in a deep breath.

"Xander said that he's almost here!" Willow jumped around excitedly again. Buffy smiled at her goofiness. "It's been, what, seven months?"

"About." Buffy said with a shrug as she gave one last menacing glance down out the window and into the street where all the "love muffins" and "snuggle bears" were being overly affectionate in a rather public area. "Did he say anything good about the entire... ordeal?"

Buffy grabbed a bottle of water and tossed one to Willow as she took one for herself. She then eased down onto the side of the rather small bed - which Buffy realized they'd all be sharing tonight.

"Eh..." Willow plopped on the bed, beside Buffy, and didn't have a very convincing look on her face. "Well, I, er, well..."

"Takin' that as a no then." Buffy sighed. "I didn't think we'd get the old loony to come to our side, anyway."

"He's not loony." Willow said in a meek, defensive tone. "Just... old and..."

"Loony." Buffy smiled as Willow shrugged.

A slight beeping interrupted them. The girls turned around and saw the red light on the hotel room phone blinking. Willow beat Buffy to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Who is it?" Buffy poked Willow's arm. After she had asked this and did the deed of poking, Buffy felt like a silly little five-year-old.

"The Pope." Willow said in her best facetious tone. "You're in the lobby? We'll be right down!" She slung the phone down, and the two best friends couldn't get out of the room quick enough.

x x x x x x

"I missed my girls!" Xander was nearly squashing Buffy and Willow with his crushing hug. Not that either of them minded, it had, after all, been over half a year.

"How're things?" Willow asked as she picked up one of Xander's bags.

"Well, I'm still upset about not making it into the pirate club. Did you know that you have to have a parrot and a wooden leg? As if the eye-patch wasn't enough." Xander shrugged and gave a giddy laugh. "Nah, things are going quite decently in my own area of the woods."

Buffy felt a slight pang of guilt whenever Xander would joke about his eye. She knew that he never meant anything by it. It was only Xander after all, but it still made her feel bad, even after all these years. She shook the thought out of her mind, and grabbed another bag.

"So - Anmophet was..."

"An evil, moronic ass?"

"No, I mean..."

"Sardonic and not in the slightest bit a part of the intelligent species?

"Xander..."

"I get it Buff. He was pretty cool, once you got past all that bad stuff, and the entire... 'I'm a cursed mummy' deal. I'd've been back to meet you in St. Petersburg a few months ago if he hadn't've been so depressed. He would cry every five seconds, and then he'd get mad and try to rip me into scarab food."

"Ew." Willow scrunched up her nose. "Sounds like fun."

"Are you kidding me? It was like Disney Land, but better."

Buffy shook her head... Xander back to his quirky and yet very sarcastic remarks. Every day she thanked every power above her that these two people were beside her.

"So, he's cool?" Buffy pushed the up button with her finger.

"Yeah, he even wanted to give you a few acceptance gifts." Xander patted the bag underneath his right arm.

"For real?" Buffy's eyes widened as they all got on the elevator.

"Yep, but I think Willow might like the presents more than you will. Speaking of the beautiful Miss Rosenberg... where's Kennedy?"

Since Xander was obviously not going to get out the presents, Buffy decided that she would just wait it out. Even if she didn't like it. She'd get them soon enough.

"Didn't work out." Willow shrugged. "She went all... you know. And then I went all... well, I didn't go all, y'know... but she did... and... I left."

"Good for you!" Xander nodded his head in approval. "Was there any cat fighting? Because, if there was, and nobody took pictures, I'll be slightly disappointed."

"Xander!" Buffy hit his arm.

"Ow!"

"None of that. Though I think Buffy was closer than I was to any cat fighting." Willow pursed her lips in thought, trying to recall some of Buffy's words after Kennedy had said her share of curse words.

"Ooh..."

"Shut up, Xander." Buffy was really anticipating her gifts. She always liked gifts; unless vampires tried to give a gift. Those usually weren't fun.

"Here's our floor!" Willow stepped out first, followed by her friends. As they walked to room 613, Buffy was now in eager anticipation.

As they stepped into the room, Xander put down a few of the bags, except the one under his right arm.

The present bag!

"Shut the door, Willow." Xander commanded gently.

As she complied, Xander took three decent sized boxes out of the bag. Buffy cocked one eyebrow at the boxes.

"Anmophet said that these Egyptian rocks were of high value. He also said that only women can touch these rocks, so he put them in boxes for me, saying that if I touched them I'd turn into human salsa."

"Human salsa?" Willow glanced from the boxes to Xander. "He called you salsa?"

"No, but that was the gist of it."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And, he, also, well, he also got a little upset about giving them away, but he said that since he's coming to our side, that it was time to give them away."

"My God!" Buffy screamed as she grabbed a box. "The suspense is killing me." As she ripped open the box, a large stone tumbled out of the box. Buffy had a slight expression of shock on her face. "I thought you meant like diamonds and emeralds when you said 'rock' I didn't know you meant the literal rock."

"Oh, Buffy, they're cool! Look!" Willow pointed out the hieroglyphs on the stones. "These are ancient lyrics to poems and songs - wow."

"Eh, definitely the Willow gift." Buffy sighed. "Have mine... mine looks like..." Buffy studied her rock.

"Ancient rock?"

"You're impossible Xander." Willow shook her head, but laughed at the corny joke anyway.

"That's why I'm here."

x x x x x

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Love it? Hate it? What?

Read and review and you might get a little present... like Chapter Two! WOOH!

Look forward to Ch. 2 entitled:

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Damn the Mummy


	2. Damn the Mummy

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. For the love of all things purple... I'm a broke college kid. Don't sue.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: Ah, my little pretties! :) Hahaha... I love my reviewers. Y'all are the rockin'est bunch. Wooh, eh? Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews already!!

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Chapter 2

Damn the Mummy

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BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Buffy opened her eyes groggily and reached over to her left to try and stop the beeping. However, not only did the beeping continue but she fell right off the bed.

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THUNK!

"Ugh." Buffy crawled back on the bed and reached over Xander and Willow. Right when she was about to slap the alarm clock (which read 7 P.M. - she decided that a three hour nap before her night out in the Paris streets would suffice) Xander and Willow started to slowly stir.

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Wish I was a heavy sleeper, Buffy thought. She smacked the button and flopped back onto her side. Since three people were sharing the bed, her side added up to the whopping total of three inches.

Willow mumbled something about carrots not getting their daily dose of moose-pie, as Xander slowly sat up. He turned to face Buffy and then glanced over at Willow. He then slumped back into the middle part of the bed.

"Was it good for you?" Xander mumbled, still halfway asleep.

"What?" Buffy looked him squarely in the eye. "Good?"

"No jokes after nap time. Got it." Xander pulled the sheets up over his head and turned to face Willow (who looked as if she'd fallen right back to sleep).

Buffy sat up and decided that she better get dressed. _Vampires don't just stake themselves_, she thought, _though that'd be way cool_.

"Buffy, aren't there like five slayers here in Paris?" Buffy looked over at Willow, who was rubbing her eyes.

"Three of those five are under ten, the fourth one is fifteen, and the fifth one is sixteen. Way too young." She answered as she walked into the bathroom to change. There was a slight pause.

"Hey, Buff. You were sixteen-"

"Yeah, but they're all innocents still. I'll be back later."

The conversation ended there as Buffy walked right out of the room.

x x x x x

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"Mais non!"

The sound of the TV filled the room as Willow's eyes were glued to the television set. Even though she really had no idea what was going on, the French soap opera-esque show (named _Mon Coeur_) was very entertaining. Already two people had been slapped, and there was still 35 minutes left in the show.

"_Je t'aime, Virginie..."_

"Non!"

"Giselle... écoute. Je ne t'aime pas."

Willow watched as Giselle slapped Simon (_Three slaps_! Willow thought.). All Willow knew was that Simon was leaving Giselle for Virginie and that Giselle didn't like the sound of that too much. As a commercial for chocolate eclaires came on the TV, Willow's stomach rumbled.

Xander had gone out to get them some chocolate eclaires - he had left not one minute after the two of them had been watching the same soap opera and the same commercial had came on.

Willow wondered what exactly was taking him so long. She sighed and looked at the time... she hoped that the supermarket (which there was only one and it was clear across town - the French didn't like supermarkets that much) was open at 11:04 at night.

Willow clicked off the TV and decided that the rocks needed another glancing over. While grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, she noticed that the symbols on the rocks seemed to be glowing.

"Hadn't noticed that before," she whispered to herself. Willow poked the rock with her pen and the glowing stopped. Then, just as quickly as the glowing stopped, the marks flared up again, and jumped off the rock into the air.

"Oh... no..."

Willow reached for the rock to put it up, and as soon as she touched it there was a flash of light and a slight pull below her belly button.

x x x x x

Buffy pushed open the door with a slightly bruised hand. One vampire had taken a very large piece of sourdough bread and whacked her on the hand with it. Right after that, she had taken a wisk from a bowl and used it as a bat for a few rounds before staking the vamp. As Buffy took off her coat, she saw Xander sitting in the corner, looking out into the streets. He was stuffing eclaires into his mouth.

"Xander?"

Startled, Xander whirled around, and ran up to Buffy, but then passed right by her and to the door. He looked out the door and then slammed it.

"She isn't with you!?" He sounded slightly alarmed and his voice was on the high side.

"Willow left?" Buffy crossed her arms. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! I left to get some food and when I came back..." Xander paused and put a hand to his chest. "I've been worried sick."

Buffy looked at the empty box of chocolate eclaires. "I can see why."

x x x x x

Willow had landed on her knees, but the fall hadn't hurt her. At least, she couldn't see if the fall had hurt her, because she hadn't opened her eyes since she had landed, which was at least a good minute before. With a deep breath, she opened one eye and then the other. At first glance, all she saw was trees, but beyond the trees, Willow could see the house tops of a village.

Willow, then, found the courage to stand.

x x x x x

"DAMN THE MUMMY!"

"Xander!"

"What? Isn't it obvious?" Xander pointed to the rocks with a somewhat gnarled finger. "There's only two rocks left!"

"Point?"

"There were three to begin with! Obviously the mummy isn't coming to our side... and..." Xander stopped talking and walked to the two remaining heiroglyphed rocks. "The crazy old loony."

Buffy stared at Xander. He was obviously overreacting. Willow probably had went to a library, or a place with internet and had taken a rock with her. Of course, her leaving at midnight did seem odd, but they had pulled many all-nighters before, so it wasn't all too different from the past.

"I know he did it..." Xander was still talking as he reached for one of the rocks. As soon as he touched one of the rocks, fire erupted from the heiroglyphs.

"ARGH!" Xander's high pitched scream pierced the air. As soon as he realized that he had no pain, nor that he was aflame, he coughed and turned to Buffy. "You'd think I'd've gotten used to those kind of things."

"Xander?"

"Yeah?"

"What's it doing?"

"What's what doing?"

All Buffy could do was point to the rock. It had begun to float in midair. Buffy walked towards it, Xander put his hand on her shoulder, to bring her away from the rock, but before he could pull her away, she had touched the rock.

x _chapter's end _x

Read and review. Reveal to me your thoughts, mm'kay?

The French Soap Opera - I have no idea if there is a soap opera by that name in France or Quebec or wherever they speak French. I came up with the stuff, so I swear I'm not plagiarizing or anything.

This is where things start to get more involved. I will warn you all... I kinda want to model how the story flows after Lost (y'know - the most awesomest show in the world). So, every now and again, there will be a flashback, since I'm creating the past couple of years for the Harry Potter-verse. Just a little note to keep in mind: if you do the math, technically the Scoobies and the Hogwartians (snicker) are the same age. So, yeah. :)

Look forward to Ch. 3 entitled:

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Measly Weasley


	3. Measly Weasley

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. For the love of all things purple... I'm a broke college kid. Don't sue.

****

Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: This was supposed to be an extremely short chapter, but for some reason, it came out like this. Who knew?

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Chapter 3

Measly Weasley

Willow had finally gotten the courage to find her feet and learn to stand again. As she had started walking, with each step she could feel the presence of magic grow with each step. At first she had thought that she had been misreading the signs, but as soon as she had stepped foot into the village, Willow could feel magic all around.

Willow looked up at a sign closest to her.

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Danger Ahead - Construction

Willow looked around the sign, but saw no evidence of construction. In fact, the place looked as if it was full of people. She looked back at the sign, and squinted her eyes, the letters began to change.

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Hogsmeade

Willow blinked. Sure enough the sign read _Hogsmeade_, when just moments before it had read _Danger Ahead - Construction_. She took a step past the sign and the people came more into focus. Most were wearing elaborate type costumes with cloaks and pointy hats. One woman who walked by wore a raven hat, and if that wasn't weird enough, the raven was talking to a balding man selling papers. As Willow walked closer, she tried to read what was on the cover of the paper.

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Muggle Prime Minister attacked by vicious flobberworm.

Photos by: Brunhilda Bagnastchy

Willow had never heard of a flobberworm, or a muggle for that matter, and so she was slightly intrigued. She scooted closer to the stand and tried to see the pictures better. Was it just Willow, or was the picture on the front page moving... and talking!?

"Get'cher firs' rate news 'ere!" The balding man shouted as the lady took the magazine and scuttled off. "6 sickles! Sale! Vicious flobberworm attacks Muggle! On'y 6 sickles."

"Why should we care what happens to muggles?" A sneer voice said behind her. The bald man's gaze turned downward - he looked as if his feelings had been hurt.

Willow turned around to see a very tall, (and yet snarky and pompous) blond man. He sneered in Willow's general direction; Willow arched one eyebrow and looked the man up and down. She snorted and turned back to the bald guy.

"How much?" She asked with a quick look over her shoulders.

"Six sickles." His face brightened.

"Sickles?" Willow reached into her bag and pulled out a ten dollar bill. "I only have dollars."

The old man looked at the ten that Willow held in her hand. "Dollar? Yer not from 'round these parts are you?"

"No - I'm from Cali-"

"Give her the paper, man." The snarky voice was behind her shoulder again. "I'll take care of it." One gold coin flipped in the air and landed in the man's hand. "Do keep the change, as I'm _quite_ sure you need it more than I."

Willow ignored the blond man as the elderly one handed her the paper. "The article on ghoul feastin' is right worf a read."

"Thanks." Willow smiled brightly and held up the paper. The pictures _were_ moving!

"Ahem."

Willow turned around. "Yes?"

"I just paid for that, and you're not going to thank me?"

"You just gave off this... nevermind." Willow gave her best 'get-away-from-me' smile. "Thanks." Willow turned back around and began to walk off, as she began to intently read the articles inside. One article was upside down, so she flipped the magazine over, and started to read.

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Sure is odd, she thought. Willow looked up and read another sign.

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The Three Broomsticks

"_The Quibbler _is nothing but rubbish." There he was again.

"Are you stalking me?" Willow closed the magazine.

"Draco Malfoy." The man held out his hand, Willow took a step back. "I won't bite." Willow took his hand and he kissed her hand.

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Gross, Willow thought. There was a pause... Willow thought that he must be waiting for her introduction, but she didn't care to take the conversation further.

"Want to go in?" The man pointed to the store.

"Huh?"

"I'll get you a Butterbeer."

"No, thanks, I don't drink."

"You don't drink?" He looked extremely puzzled. "How do you keep fluids in your body?"

"I mean... I don't drink alcohol."

"What's alcohol?"

"You don't know what alcohol is?" Willow asked. Now she was the extremely puzzled one. "How do you not know about alcohol and yet you ask me to have a drink?"

"Alright," Draco held up his arms. "Might you accompany me if I were to buy you some pumpkin juice then?"

Willow thought about it, she was thirsty, and he did seem to want to give her free stuff. "Is it good?"

"Very cool and refreshing... Miss..."

"Oh!" Willow shook her head. "Willow Rosenberg."

"Rosenberg?"

"Yep - that's me. Rosenberg. Willow. Willow Rosenberg."

"Pureblood?"

"As far as I know." Willow had no idea what he meant by that, but she figured that whatever it meant, that it couldn't mean something too bad.

x x x x x

"So - where are you from Willow?"

Willow took a sip of her pumpkin juice. Draco had been nice, but she was starting to worry about what exactly was going on. She looked around and took in the surroundings. So far, from what she had learned very quickly was that this was a wizard village, butterbeer wasn't alcoholic, and that being pureblood was a good thing.

"California."

"Really? What school did you go to?"

"Which school?"

"You had more than one school?"

"Oh, um, yeah, different system. I went to four schools; all in Sunnydale, California."

"Four schools?" Draco took a sip of his butterbeer and motioned for another. "What was your favorite subject?"

"Oh, I loved it all, well, mostly all of it. In my third school, things kind of got wacky, a lot of weird things started to happen, but I made it through."

"Weird things?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"That's fine."

"What about you?" Willow questioned as she heard the cackle of a witch as the door opened. "Your favorite subject?"

"Potions. And had I gone to Durmstrang, I would have been a top student there. They focus on a lot of the darker arts." Draco also looked up; he sneered at the red-haired man who had just walked in.

Willow turned around to look at the man. "Don't dabble too much in the dark arts..." Willow said with a sincere tone. "It's bad."

"Yes, mum."

"No, I'm serious..."

"Hold that thought, love." Draco squeezed Willow's hand as he moved towards the red head.

Willow's eyes followed him across the room, but she didn't hear the entire conversation due to her obnoxious thoughts... _I should tell him that I've been a lesbian for the past_...

"Weasley!"

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What's it been? Three years?

"How's the Mudblood?"

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Or was it four? Why can't I remember?

"G'bye measly Weasley..."

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Well, I did like guys for a while ... _so_ ... _maybe I just won't tell him_.

"Sorry - you were saying?"

Willow shook her thoughts away and watched the furious red-haired and red-cheeked man leave the building.

"Oh - dark magic isn't fun. I nearly killed my best friend, because I had so much power in me that I couldn't think straight."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why were you about to kill your friend?"

"He wouldn't let me destroy the world."

Draco's eyes opened extremely wide. "Bloody hell. What would make you do such a thing?"

"Er... death of a very dear friend."

"Oh."

"Just don't dabble. I wouldn't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else."

x _chapter's end _x

Read and review. I always like those reviews that leave a good healthy critique. No flames please.

I had always told myself to never make Draco good... and yet he seems to be halfway decent. I don't know what got into me, y'all. I mean, technically, he thinks Willow's pureblood and just a little off her rocker, but he's still mean to everyone else, eh? LOL.

Look forward to Ch. 4 entitled:

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Of Gold and Pink... Hair?


	4. Of Gold and Pink Hair?

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. For the love of all things purple... I'm a broke college kid. Don't sue.

****

Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: There is one thing that some of you might not like (it has to do with the barriers of Hogwarts - but think of it this way - an alternate reality can open a hole to any place in another reality). 'Tis all I'll say.

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Chapter 4

Of Gold and Pink... Hair?

All Buffy could feel was immense pain radiating from her arm. She knew that she had just hit a rather hard floor, and that the landing had broken her arm. She felt sick from the pain and the... well... whatever had just happened to her, that made her sick too.

"Professor?"

Buffy blinked and tried to keep herself breathing. The voice sounded so innocent. She slowly turned her head and saw about 20 young faces staring at her in awe.

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Where? Xander? Oh, no...

A frightened child's face was the last thing Buffy saw as her eyes closed...

x x x x x

"Ugh-ooohh..."

Xander landed face first into a large puddle. It wouldn't have been so bad... except for the fact that the puddle was murky and muddy... and probably had a few gross diseases scattered within its depths.

He pushed himself up and tried to wipe off some of the brown gunk from his face. As soon as he was up, he felt sick, and he had to double back over.

"God!" he shouted, as both hands landed in the murky pool. "Oh, I don't feel good," Xander complained as he rolled over, with his hands on his stomach. "I don't ever want to go on a ride like that again."

Xander took in a deep breath and let it out. "Buff, let's not try and get evil mummy's to join our side anymore. Don't you see what they-"

Xander stopped suddenly as he realized that there was no Buffy in sight. And he knew that it wasn't because of his lack of depth perception.

"Oh, no!" A slightly plump woman was scuttling towards him, faster than anything he'd ever seen before. And if Xander had not of been as sick as he was, he would have ran as fast as he could.

Her dark eyes were flashing as she ran towards him.

"I didn't do it - I swear!" Xander screamed.

"What are you talking about?" She bent down, and it wasn't until that very moment when Xander noticed something. "Oh, you're covered in... oh, I must get you some Nerk-Away!"

Xander continued to stare. "How'd you? You're hair..."

"Oh, you're a muggle," the woman said matter-of-factly.

"A who?"

"Now you nevermind me; you'll forget soon enough." She smiled at him and helped him up. The woman started mumbling something about "portkeys" and "charms" and "wards" but Xander was too busy thinking.

It wasn't until that very second, when Xander really took in his surroundings. Not six feet away from him was this huge statue of a very wealthy-looking man. The statue man had a pointy hat and a slightly pointy nose, and slightly behind him stood a rather dangerous looking stone lion. In on hand the man held a stick and in the other hand the man held a sword. Xander squinted at the name below the statue on the slab of stone.

"I see you're admiring the fabled statue of Godric Gryffindor." The woman said as she began to pull Xander in the opposite direction of the ominous statue. "Supposedly at night the statue comes to life and watches over all those living in the Hollow."

Xander said nothing as he looked at a sign for shop called, _Composition Witch Inc._

"You sure are quiet..."

"Oh, uh, sorry..."

"It's quite alright, I'm just glad I found you and not... well.. not one of these Purebloods who still hang around here. They hate muggles - er - I mean - your kind."

"My kind?" Xander watched as a stumpy little figure ran out in front of them and into another shop (_Critters and Cranks_).

"Non-magic."

"What Freak-O world was I dropped in?" Xander said out loud.

"You're in England and you're just scared, but as soon as I find someone more capable than I-oof!" Both Xander and the woman fell smack on their faces. "Oh, sorry, I'm not as spry as I once was."

Xander pushed himself up, "What do you mean... more capable than you?"

"Well, first I have to take you to my little place anyway... I have some Nerk-Away... Nerks like to hide in mudpuddles..."

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I knew it, I'm diseased, Xander thought.

"... and if I did a memory charm on you, I think I might turn you into a Fwooper, and we don't want that." They were both up and walking now, and they finally had stopped in front of one of the shops.

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The Brewing Bog

"Nice name," Xander said. "I'm sure you get --"

When they walked into the restaurant, Xander nearly felt sicker from the horrid stench.

"Oh! I left that potion going!" The woman (though Xander was beginning to wonder if the woman was actually a woman) ran off into the back where a certain black fog was trickling from.

A voice from the back (Xander guessed it was still the woman talking), "Do sit down, please, er, oh! Damn spoon! What was your name? ACK!"

"Er - Xander."

The woman popped her head out from the back; her face covered in soot, her bright pink and silvery gold hair, and her dark eyes flashing; "You can call me Tonks, Xander."

x x x x x

Buffy's eyelids felt heavy, and with a small struggle she opened her eyes. She blinked and then tried to sit up. However, her body wouldn't move. Not one part of her body would move. She tried to call out, but her lips wouldn't even move.

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Figures, she thought,_ it would only be my eyes that would move._

"OH!"

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MY GOD! If Buffy could have moved, she would have jumped 10 feet high.

"You're awake! I must get the Headmistress." The voice was kind, but strict, and Buffy wished that she could see something other than a ceiling, perhaps a face to put with the voice.

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Okay, it's alright. You've been in worse situations. Obviously I've been paralyzed. From a broken arm? Come on, you know better than that, that arm should be almost healed by now. Well, why can't I move? Have I been drugged? If... no... WHEN I can move again... I am going to beat the sh-

"You."

Buffy saw a very large crooked nose come into view. Then there was the greasy black hair.

__

My God, take a shower. All you evil dudes are all the same.

"How did you get past all of the charms and enchantments?" The voice was dripping with venom, and Buffy wished she could smack the hell out of the man right here and right now.

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Oh, wow, what a cornball. Does anyone get that I'm paralyzed and mute at the moment?

"ANSWER ME!" Buffy felt strong hands grab her arms and shake her, but she still could not move any part of her body.

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Go to hell in a handbasket. Ha! This is fun. I can insult all day.

"Finite Totalus."

"Too bad they can't hear me, the morons..." Buffy blinked. She had just talked. "I just said that out loud didn't I?"

Buffy slowly sat up and saw three figures in the room. One shabbily dressed, another all decked out in black, and one that looked like she had been in a "Who-Has-The-Best-Nurse-Costume" Contest.

"Yes," the shabby dressed man said. "I took the charm off."

"Charm was it?" Buffy blinked and felt her arm. It didn't seem to be broken anymore. _That is one good thing about being a Slayer._

"I mended your arm while you were under the Petrificus Totalus charm." The woman said as she was bustling around.

"I can heal myself perfectly well, I don't need any of your help."

"You didn't answer my question, girl." The greasy-haired man spat.

"How smart do you have to be to understand that I couldn't talk a few seconds ago?" Buffy spat right back, she stood up, and was knocked right back onto the bed.

"Stay." The shabby guy said. He held a stick... _Is that a wand?_... in his hand.

Greasy-hair Man laughed. Why, Buffy had no clue, but he was looking at Shabby Guy while he laughed and not at her. The two men exchanged glances. It seemed like there was almost a bit of distaste, but not really anything too bad.

__

Co-workers who don't like each other. There's a new one... ha.

The double doors to the room flung open as an elderly woman stood at the door.

"I'd like a word with her alone." Her voice commanded respect, as did her appearance, and there was no quarrel with any of the three in the room. However Greasy-hair Man did shoot Buffy a nasty look, which Buffy returned almost a little too quickly.

x x x x x

"So - Snoopy is good?"

"Oh, yeah, Snoopy rocks."

"Snoopy rocks?"

"Er, muggle expression. It means, Snoopy is pretty damn cool."

"Oh, Xander, you are great fun." Tonkslaughed and took a sip from a fresh batch of the potion she had been concocting. They had finally gotten rid of the black fog and the smell, well, Xander had done most of the work, but it was still a 'team' effort.

"Yeah, I know."

"I don't think I have the heart to take away your memory." Tonks smiled at Xander. "You just have to promise you won't tell anybody where you come from about ... the wizarding world."

"Cross my heart." Xander smiled back and took a sip from his small cup. He didn't know what he was drinking, and it didn't taste all that great, but Tonks had been so wonderful and kind that he had decided that he didn't want to hurt her feelings. "Hey, do that thing with your hair again."

Tonks laughed and the hair on top of her head went from pink and gold to purple and then to a rolling display of all the colors of the rainbow in succession of ROY G. BIV.

"I love it!" Xander laughed and took another sip, forcing the stuff down.

Tonks smile faded as she looked up to the ceiling. "The Phoenix Orb."

"What?"

"Shh... we're about to get a message." Her expression was solemn and her hair morphed from short with rainbow colors to long and black. "Something's happened."

x _chapter's end _x

Read and review. It's good for you. hehe

Don't yell at me b/c I broke a rule... it's fanfic man. Well, erm, hope you liked it, and sorry that the chapter took longer than the others. I was away. Look forward to one more update before Christmas Day! It'll be my gift to all of you!

Look forward to Ch. 5 entitled:

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The Phoenix Orb


	5. The Phoenix Orb

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. For the love of all things purple... I'm a broke college kid. Don't sue.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: Wow - some reader's really don't trust me. LOL. I've never heard of _Vampire: The Masquerade_, nor do I do any Egyptian RPG "stuff." The mummy is intertwined within this plot; and everything has a reason, because it might be around in future chapters. With that said... I hope you enjoy a nice little tiff between a certain Greasy Git and the Slayer. WOOH!

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Chapter 5

The Phoenix Orb

Tonks stood up and moved quickly to the back of the building where a twisted staircase led to the second floor. She didn't motion for Xander, but Xander followed anyway. His curiosity was definitely getting the better of him. Obviously the witch had heard something that Xander could not hear... so he figured it was something magical, and he was set to get a good look at it.

Upstairs, the room looked warm and homely (_Or as homely as a witch's home would look_, thought Xander), and in the center of the room stood a dark mahogany table. There were no chairs situated around the table, which Xander thought odd; and in the center of the table, on top of a very gold piece of fabric, lay a small red orb.

"Gonna take a wild guess and say that's that Feet-nex Orb." Xander said as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Shh." Tonks held a hand to her mouth, and then diverted all of her attention to the orb. "It's the Phoenix Orb." She placed both hands on top of the orb and watched as sparkling swirls of gold leapt from the orb and began to form letters in the air.

Xander took a step closer to try and read the gold scribble.

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Deh Ceerbre Dorb Straw Goh. Request help of those closest. Time is of the essence.

Tonks removed her hands and the gold script slowly began to fade.

Xander smiled, "That was cool, but what does it mean?"

"Well," Tonks started.

"What else does it do?"

"What?" Tonks looked faintly surprised, and Xander noticed that her hair had changed back to gold and pink. "The orb?"

"Yeah."

"It, well, that's pretty much all. You could also send messages through the orb, but it takes those skilled beyond most. I'm not capable to send messages; I can only receive them." Tonks lead Xander down to the first floor, she began to grab a few things.

"How many people can send messages?"

"People?"

"I mean, wizards."

"Very few. Only three wizards and two witches at the moment can actually send messages."

"Oh. Why is it like that?"

"Safety."

"Oh."

"The wizarding world has their demons too, Xander." Tonks smiled and she handed him a cloak. "Put it on, you're coming with me."

x x x x x

Buffy had been taken from the hospital and put in a room in a high tower. It was cold and damp... but most of all it was lonely. Buffy had never been able to cope too well with being alone, yet that's how her life was supposed to be. She was supposed to be alone.

__

Stop that, she scolded herself. _You'll depress yourself._

Buffy had lost count of the hours she had been holed up in the room. She knew it hadn't been a day yet, but it was drawing close to being around the 24-hour mark.

The people who had found her, also didn't see fit to feed her. Her stomach thanked her for remembering that particular detail with a great pang and a growl.

"Knock it off," she poked her stomach. It gurgled in reply.

"The first sign of insanity is when one talks to his, or her, self."

Buffy looked up, and saw Greasy-hair Man through the bars of her cell room. "Do you get off on annoying the hell outta people?"

"Just you."

"You disgust me." Buffy rolled her eyes as she heard a click. He was coming in?

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This should be a load of fun.

"Good."

__

One with a mouth like me, huh? I'll show him.

"What is your name?" His voice echoed off the walls and he pulled out his wand.

"I dunno." Buffy shrugged and leaned back against the wall.

"Even if you don't tell me, I'll find out anyway, so I suggest that you be a good girl and tell me your name."

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A threat? Oh, boy, I can't wait to beat the snot out of you. Probably would make you look better.

"That's not very nice."

"I don't lie... wait. What?" Buffy looked up and felt like something was pulsing through her brain. She closed her eyes and shook her head, the pulsing stopped.

"Did that hurt?" The man sneered.

Buffy didn't answer him, but she did stand up. She looked up again, and his eyes met hers, and again her brain felt like someone was digging around with a pickaxe. She closed her eyes and put a hand to her head, showing her back to the man.

"I'm almost there," he said.

Buffy knew not to look into his eyes anymore; so now that she was facing the wall, she opened her eyes. She knew that she needed to attack him before he attacked her further. She used the wall for leverage and pushed off of the wall, landing behind him. Buffy threw a punch and kicked him to the floor, and before she could do anymore she heard one word...

"_Impedimenta_!"

Buffy was leaning down towards the man - to pick him up and throw him against the wall - but when those words came from his mouth, she felt like she was going in uber-slow motion. Then she realized that she had stopped mid-lunge - in the air, no less.

"Severus!" Buffy felt the presence behind her, and knew that it was Shabby Guy.

"She hit me first!"

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What the hell? Are we in the first grade?

"So, you hexed the only thing that holds the answers?"

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Thing?

"Remus... she has... powers... without magic!"

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Damn skippy. Kicked your sorry ass, too, didn't I?

"Get out, Severus." For seeming to be a nasty sentence, the man's voice was very calm.

__

Ooh, this is kinda fun, being all floaty. Minus the part where I can't move again. I hate these people.

Shabby Guy came into view; he kneeled in front of Buffy, so that she could see him better.

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Hello - who needs the Fab Five? God, I wish we were in New York, I'd call them up right away.

"You should not let Severus get to you so. He's like that with everyone he meets."

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Oh, damn, I hate it when I talk about someone and they're nice. Good thing -

Buffy landed flat on her face as the charm was taken off her.

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- Ow - he can't hear me.

"Do all of you enjoy making a fool of me?" Buffy pushed herself up, but wouldn't look at Shabby Guy in the face. She didn't feel like slaying someone so nice, because they found it entertaining to rummage around in her brain.

"Some do take pride in such things." His voice was extremely kind, and Buffy had to look up, or else she would feel like she was being rude. "I apologize for Severus. He doesn't really have good skills when he's around other beings."

Buffy forced an awkward laugh. "What's your name?"

"Not to be rude, but I'd like your name first, since you dropped in on us."

"Buffy. Buffy Summers."

"Remus Lupin."

"That wasn't so bad." Buffy sighed.

"Of course it wasn't, Miss Summers."

"Oh, no. I don't do the "Miss" thing. Call me Buffy."

There was a slight pause, where the two just stared at each other. Buffy figured that he meant to continue the conversation sooner or later, so she just waited it out.

"Now - would you be kind enough as to explain how you dropped in the middle of my class?"

"That was _your_ class?" Buffy mentally slapped herself. _Usually when someone says _my _they mean _my. _Duh_.

"Yes."

Buffy suddenly remembered the image of the horror on the children's faces. They had been scared of _her_. "Are the kids okay?"

It took the man a second to process the question. "Yes, the children are fine. They were startled, but after the entire school's teacher population burst in, I believe they felt safe."

"Wow." Buffy's eyes widened. "That popular, was I?"

"You don't understand the seriousness - wait - you never answered my question. How did you come about to ..."

Buffy interrupted him; "I touched a rock and the next thing I knew I was flying around and then... BAM... I was here. That's all I know."

"Portkey... but not even portkeys can break the barriers." Remus was talking to himself.

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Remus, Buffy thought_. That's a funny name. _She hadn't really thought about his name until just that second when he went off into a world all of his own. _Remus. Ha! Think I'll just call him Lupin._

"Lupin?"

"Hmm?"

"Just trying it out."

"What?"

"Your name."

"Oh." He turned back around and looked like he was talking to himself again.

"Lupin?"

"Yes, Buffy."

"I can call you Lupin right?"

"Yes." Lupin looked as if he was about to turn around and continue on with the chattering, but Buffy had to try it one more time, since he obviously was harder to annoy than Snape.

"Lupin."

"Buffy."

"Lupin!"

He said nothing, but looked at her, waiting for her response.

"I _really_ like your name."

x _chapter's end _x

R&R. You know you wanna! More reviews equal quicker chapters.

Happy Holidays to everybody! You get this chapter a few hours earlier than what I originally planned. I was going to post it midnight Dec. 24th; but hey, nothing wrong with it being a little early. Oh - if you don't get the orb's message; just stare at it for quite some time. And if you still don't get it; don't worry, in due time you'll see someone send a message and everything will be clear.

Look forward to Ch. 6 entitled:

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Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Workshop  
_Willow meets the Weasley's._


	6. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Workshop

__

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. For the love of all things purple... I'm a broke college kid. Don't sue.

****

Through the Looking Glass

__

Author's Note: If you go back to Chapter 1 - I have edited the summary. I think it is much better now and covers more of what will REALLY be in the story. And, erm, I have to go back and fix the Phoenix message. LOL - I spelled something wrong. HAHAHA. I'm a dork. And, the first 'Thank You' section is located in this chapter. Sporadically I'll do this; just to show you how much those reviews really do mean to me. All right - onto the story - Willow meets a few redheaded people.

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Chapter 6

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Workshop

"Willow?" Draco Malfoy's steel gray eyes lit up as he took another sip of his butterbeer.

"Mmhmm?"

"Can I ask you a favor?" Draco looked around the pub and then leaned forward close to Willow, so that only she could hear. "Would you -"

His pause made Willow slightly uneasy, but when she realized that he was being distracted she looked towards the window. A middle-aged man was standing at the glass and his eyes seemed to hold a deeper meaning that what he was mouthing to Draco (which Willow thought it looked like he was saying, _Busy crocodiles and bananas are eating us alive_). The man's brown hair hung in his face and Willow wished she could push it out of his eyes.

"I beg your forgiveness, but I must go." Draco smiled, but Willow didn't like his smile much, it seemed to be too much like a sneer. "I _will_ see you again."

And with that he was out the door, but not before leaving a small gold coin on the table for the server.

__

He sure does tip well, she thought. _Well, no use staying here, I'll go out and explore this... place._

Willow left The Three Broomsticks, and continued on her little excursion. There were tons of little shops and restaurants in this small town. She wondered if there was an inn anywhere for her to go and stay, since she obviously wasn't home anymore, but then she remembered that she had no wizard money. Thus the idea was dropped, and Willow thought that it would be better to go back where she was dropped. Willow, not wanting to be too obvious about turning around abruptly, stepped up onto a step and without thinking looked up.

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Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Workshop  
It's a Wheeze!

"It's a wheeze?" Willow was slightly amused, and then a thought struck her. Draco had said something about a Weasley, hadn't he? So, Willow figured it would be a great idea to go in and see what all the _wheezing_ was about.

Willow pushed open the door and as soon as she stepped in a large painting on her right began to make noise. The painting was of an overly furry dog and the dog was barking its head off. Then immediately to her left a loud _CRASH_ was heard, Willow whipped around to see plates smashing themselves against the floor and then the broken pieces putting themselves together and then ramming themselves against the ceiling, then doing the entire process over again. If that wasn't enough, a large amount of smoke began to fill the area... and with a dog barking and plates smashing, Willow was definitely starting to freak out.

"WELCOME!"

"AAAGHH!" Willow flew back against the door and held up her hands; a flash of light emitted from her hands and the madness went away. However, the fog didn't, but it was slowly dying away, and two fresh-faced, redheaded, identical men were standing in the middle of the fog. They had huge smiles on their faces and Willow was glad that the fog had kept them from seeing her freak out and having to quiet the _obvious_ welcoming jokes.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Workshop - the place for all your gags, jokes, and lolly-flops. Ton-Tongue Toffee is to your right. Special of the Day: Fire Frosting; five sickles per bag. Newest Edition, but only for those older wizards: Voodoo Vodka. And remember, it's a wheeze here at the workshop!"

Willow's eyes were wide open, as she realized that the two figures were actually not real at all. They were life-like statues of, Willow guessed, the owners; and during the welcome speech the mouths moved up and down like they were puppets, and the eyes would blink sporadically.

Willow took in a deep breath and figured that she would go to the left, as the Ton-Tongue Toffee certainly did not sound appetizing.

"Hi - can I help you?" A real life redhead appeared behind a small display of the Voodoo Vodka. "Would you like to try the Voodoo Vodka?"

"No thanks." Willow turned the other direction.

"How about some Magic Peppers? They never lose their spicy-ness; no matter how much you lick them." The counterpart redhead was holding a small green pepper in his hands, which Willow nearly knocked out of his hand when she turned around so abruptly.

"Fred," the one in front of her said.

"... and George," the Voodoo Vodka one continued.

"Weasley. Workshop owners, extraordinaire!" The two finished together.

Willow couldn't help but smile. "I really appreciate it, but..."

"Just looking," Fred set the green pepper in a bowl full of green peppers, and then took a small yellow ball from the bowl beside it. He popped it in his mouth and a puff of yellow smoke erupted out of his ears.

Willow didn't know what to think about that, but just nodded her head. "Right."

"Looking for anything particular?" George shook his head at his brother, and gave Willow a huge smile.

"No, not really."

"Right, well, we'll take that as our cue to leave. Leave the nice lady alone Fred." George pulled Fred away, who was still emitting puffs of yellow smoke from his ears. "Can't believe I left you out of your cage not five minutes ago, and you're already scaring away pretty customers." George winked back at Willow, before they both disappeared behind a rather majestic-looking purple drape.

"They're harmless, don't let them bother you."

"What?" Willow turned around to see another redhead, except this redhead was a girl. She looked friendly enough, but she did look somewhat dirty. She looked like she was covered in soot.

"Fred and George; they really just love what they do." The girl smiled and nodded her head. "I'm Ginny. Sister extraordinaire!" She held out her arms and the both of them laughed.

"Do you help out with the business?" Willow smiled and looked around, trying not to stare at the sooty-ness. This was definitely a wondrous place. A few people-er-wizards were poking around and trying out different types of candy and gags.

"Not with this place. There's another shop of theirs in Diagon Alley. It's been doing brilliantly and me and my other brother run it most of the time while those two are busy over here, making their presence known. Really giving ol' Zonko's a run for their money." Ginny said as she patted on the plush purple seat.

Willow took the seat, her arm brushing against Ginny's.

"Oh!" Ginny stood up quickly. "I'm sorry! I forgot that I came by Floo!" She hurried behind the counter and grabbed a small cloth. "Here."

"Thanks, it's fine." Willow dusted some of the soot off. "So you flew in?" Willow asked casually.

"The Floo Network, y'know?" Ginny gave Willow an odd look. "You have traveled by Floo Powder before, haven't you?"

"No, can't say that I have." Willow shrugged and stood up.

"Oh." Ginny then shook her head. "Deprived witch, you are."

Willow looked at Ginny like she had said something wrong, which made Ginny almost jump back. Willow realized that she hadn't meant that in a bad way, in fact, Willow realized that there was no way that she would know about her past, or that she technically was more powerful than any witch.

"Guess so," Willow nodded her head in agreement. "So, how do you travel by Floo?"

Ginny pulled her across the shop to the fireplace, and grabbed a hand-full of what looked like plain soot. "Floo Powder. All you do is step into the fireplace, say your destination, and drop the Floo. Quite simple, really."

"Obviously, the fire needs to be out," Willow said as she stared at the open flames of the fireplace. As she stared, a face of an elderly woman appeared. Willow gasped.

"It's a wheeze!" The fake Weasley's up at the front of the store exclaimed.

"You there!" The face called to Willow.

Willow looked behind her, and then looked at Ginny. Ginny's face had turned into complete seriousness, and she bent down in front of the fireplace.

"Ah, Ginny!"

"Hello Prof -"

"It's Minerva, now, dear."

"Right." Ginny nodded her head in agreement. "What -"

"Would you be a dear and tell your brothers that there is an urgent matter at Hogwarts and that their presence is required."

"Of course." Ginny nodded again, and looked like she was about to say something, but the face interrupted her.

"And you know that you may come as well." The woman smiled rather feebly and continued. "Good day, Ginny."

"Bye."

Ginny stood up and looked at Willow as if nothing was wrong. "Well, I have to find Ron. He's in Hogsmeade somewhere, so, would you be kind enough and go get Fred and George. Tell them that they are needed at Hogwarts, they'll know what you're talking about."

"Okay." Willow rubbed her hands together, just slightly worried about what was going on. Ginny didn't have the smile on her face, and that didn't make Willow happy at all.

"Maybe we'll meet again some time," Ginny began moving towards the door and waved at Willow. "Nice to meet you, er..."

"Willow."

"Willow, it's been great fun." And with that she was gone.

Willow turned around and moved to the purple drape. She pushed the curtain aside and stepped onto a staircase. She followed the steps down, and at the bottom of the steps there were a few lanterns and in the middle of the room stood the twins.

"Excuse me?"

"Who's there?"

"Piss off!"

"Well, that's not very nice!" Willow huffed. "I'm here to-"

"We're busy! Don't make us hex you!"

"Listen!" Willow tried again.

"Piss off!"

"Your sister-" Willow started

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-we're we're we're we're we're... busy-y-y-y..."

"More fake statues," Willow realized. "Faulty ones." Willow moved closer and looked at the fake figures. There was silence, and then the two figures got into it again.

"Who's there?"

"Piss off!"

"We're busy! Don't make us h-h-hex you!"

"Broken records..." Willow mumbled as she continued to the back of the basement.

"Oof!"

"Hello?" Willow tuned out another "Piss off!" from the fake twins.

"Yeah?" A real twin popped up. "Whatchoo doin' down here?"

"Getting you and..."

"Me?" _There's the other one!_ Willow thought.

"Yes, you. Your sister-"

Suddenly it seemed like she had flipped on a button, both of their eyes widened, and they nearly fell over to get to Willow. "Is she okay? Did anything happen to her? What about Ginny!? TELL US! Mom'll kill us! Did she break something? Don't tell us one of those-"

"She's fine!" Willow yelled at the top of her lungs.

"You don't have to shout." One of them said.

"George, we were being a bit rambunctious."

"Still, we use our inside voices inside, Miss..."

Willow sighed. "I'm Willow, and Ginny wanted me to tell you-"

"Willow?" George cocked one eyebrow. "Nice name."

"Thank you, but -"

"Let the girl carry on with her story." Fred interrupted.

"Ginny said -" Willow tried again.

"I was, but then there you went interrupting her."

"I was just letting her know-"

"You're always pulling stunts like this-"

"That's rich, coming from-"

"BOYS!"

"What!" They both turned to her.

"Ginny wanted me to tell you that you're needed at Hogwarts, she said you both would know what that meant." Willow sighed in relief, since she was finally able to get the words out.

"Yeah, we do." George nodded his head and looked at Fred. "Sorry for not using my inside voice."

"Me too, George." The brothers shook hands and then looked back at Willow. "Well, guess we better lock up. Follow us." The Weasley's led the way and Willow followed them up the stairs and past the purple drape, which Willow was becoming rather fond of.

One of the twins whirled a wand and the two fake twins at the front of the store began to garble and then talk coherent sentences.

"We're closing early. Five more minutes and the workshop will be closed!"

"Aw, man!" A wizard huffed as he put a bottle of the Voodoo Vodka down. He stormed out of the workshop, but not before tripping over the step outside the door.

Fred and George laughed.

"Well, guess I need to go too," Willow said. "You have a very nice store here-"

"Thanks, Willow." George, or was it Fred, flashed her a smile.

"Bye." Willow waved and was about to walk out the door, when the plates started breaking themselves again. She faced the plates and pointed at them, breaking them all instantly. She heard two gasps behind her, and one last farewell from the fake twins.

"It's a wheeze! It's a wheeze!"

x x x x x

x _chapter's end _x

R&R. You know you wanna! More reviews equal quicker chapters.

Okay, if you don't get the, "It's a wheeze" stuff... a wheeze is a gasp. See? HA! Every time someone gasps... the fake twins are triggered. I didn't know if it was clear. Well, here's another update. Dunno when I'll update again. Maybe before the end of the week, or maybe sometime next week. Who knows? Not me! LOL

Look forward to Ch. 7 entitled:

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Heaven Sent  
_What does heaven have to do in this HP/Buffy x-over?_

Thanks:

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Louie Pastiche : And I hope ol' Saint Nick was good to you too! Christmas here was great, minus the fact that I had to work. BOO! LOL - Look at me babbling on to you about my life story like you care. HAHAHAHA. For real though, thanks for the reviews. Even though I still have never heard of _Vampire: The Masquerade _(sounds too complicated, even for me). :)

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Pyro : How sweet! I'm rather fond of my story as well. Though I dunno about it being the best. Thanks so much for your review!

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Alaula-Star : Why thankies! I wanted to make a somewhat different Buffy/HP x-over. In fact; there's still more coming that might make it slightly different than other Buffy/HP x-overs. Glad you like it so far. And thank you _way muchos _for the review! Hope chapter 6 is to your liking.

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SnowySilver : HAHAHA! You sound EXACTLY like me. HAHAHAHA! Yes! Are you my long lost twin? ... I know, doesn't Lupin rock? I positively love Lupin - he be's my favorite. In fact, no matter what JKR says, I claim Lupin as my own. (( kisses and squishes him )) (( now waits for an evil lawyer to sue her; and then puts a big fat wiff of sarcasticness in front of said evil lawyers face )) Man, I am odd.  
Since I rock - you rock. We square? Or rectangle? Or what? :) If you can't tell, I thorougly enjoyed your review. Please stick around, as I hope that you will fall even more in love with this story. I kinda like the plot; though my writing kinda sucks at times... so just stick around for the story lines. Ha Ha!

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Anne-Marie : I know - I'm usually wary of x-overs! I have a hard time trying to find a really good and decent Buffy/HP - so I said, "HELL! I'll write one!" So, yeah. LOL. Thanks so much for saying that the characterizations are good, because when I write, I rewrite a lot, and a lot of things change because of characters and how they would react to different things.

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ztacel : WOOH! Thanks! Is this a "soon" enough update for ya? Thanks very much for reading and reviewing! :) WOOH!

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Zantac the Barbarian : Cyrillic, eh? How'd you know that I'm just spiffy like that? (( guffaw )) Albinistic Romanian sirens? Where!? When!? HOW!?! Yeah, they must have tapped into my computer somehow and wreaked some havoc. The morons. LOL. Thanks for the review. Oh, and, erm, not to sound mean, but _Lost_ really is a much better show. Then again, never have been a _Smallville_ fan. Alas - I hope this doesn't ruin our relationship - because that wouldn't be grand. Thanks for reviewing!

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Papa Wheelie : In the words of the two-year old in my house, "Fanks!" And may the merryness be spread to you as well - hope your Christmas was phenomenal!

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Herb : Thanks for pointing out the screwed-up-ness of the update. Sometimes ff (dot) net is evil. Thanks for R&R!!!

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oldscout : Formatting is a big pain in the rear - thanks for bringing the evilness to my attention so I could at least try and attempt to correct it. Thanks for reading and reviewing! And about those info dumps, don't worry. That was a one time thing - it had to be done! Muahaha - and you won't know why for a whiiiiiiiiile - see? - I'm an evil writer - but you just wait when I start getting into my cliffhanger mode. LOL. I'll be doing all kinds of evil things. Ha!

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Dannii : You're major cool, because you actually LIKE my story! Hoorah for you!! (( high fives )) Hope you continue to enjoy this little diddy. Thanks again!

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General Mac : Not the _Big Mac_; the General Mac, eh? :) Hope I've continued giving as much as you need! Hope you've enjoyed so far!

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slaygal166 : Thank you! I was hoping it would be different, because a lot of x-over stuff is all the same. I mean, obviously, this will have some things (_ie: ships with Buffy/Hp character, etc)_ that you see in other fics, but overall, I hope to keep this fic original in it's own right. Glad you enjoy my story! Thank you again for your review!!

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zayra - Xander and Tonks you say? Eh. I dunno... Xander's still a bit confusing for me. I have no idea who to put him with; but I don't think Tonks is right for him. He might just be alone... which... wouldn't be bad... in fact... it'd make for a pretty good underlining story... However, I might surprise myself, and I might go in the direction of Xander/Tonks. Hehe. Do I talk to much? I think I do.

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Superfan : Thanks for the review! Neh - Draco doesn't have an older brother; but his daddy is a right ol' evil coot! Perhaps there is reason behind the madness after all!

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Fallen Angel01 : (( spazzes )) I updated! I updated! I updated! :) Hee hee hee. Sure am glad you're hooked, though, if you ever have to go through withdrawal, I hope it's pain free. And again, I say that, "I am an oddball." Thanks for the review!

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spikesanguination : I've always liked Nice!Draco; but I never thought that I'd be one to write Draco like so. LOL. Don't get use to seeing him like that though. (( HINT HINT HINT )) But, I think that he has a weakness for certain people... people like him, who he thinks are at his own level. But, yeah, don't get too used to seeing Nice!Draco. He'll occasionally pop up and have some tea; but around certain people, he's gonna be... well... you'll see! Thanks for the reviews!

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FantasyChick : Thanks for the review!

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Harm Marie : Zee mummy 'as a purpose! Swear! Though he kinda is a way to get them there; but he also will be seen later on!

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Morena Evensong : You liked that scene too, huh? I liked it a lot too. I think it's great how Willow is all goddess-esque now and can just look back and be like, "Yeah - did that. Old news." But then again, I always liked Willow in the first couple of seasons, so I'm trying to bring her back to that level, but still keep her strong (without a lot of people really knowing it - which I hope showed some-what in this chapter). I think I type too much sometimes. LOL - thanks SOOO much for your review!

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Village Mystic : Awesome name - thanks for the review!

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Emba : Here's ANOTHER update! I be's on a role, eh? LOL - thanks for reviewing!

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Tanydwr : Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it so far.

And if I forgot anybody - I'm sorry - y'all know I'm not all there sometimes. :)


	7. Heaven Sent

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. For the love of all things purple... I'm a broke college kid. Don't sue.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: Actually, in answer to an observation, Xander didn't land in Diagon Alley. Make sure to _read closely_! And Buffy couldn't break out of the prison. Lots of charms and enchantments... hehe... probably should've put that in there, eh? Now to the chapter - because I'm sure y'all wanna know exactly why heaven has anything to do with this story.

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Chapter 7

Heaven Sent

"One last chance, G."

"What an offer." Gabriel got set for the face-off. "For reasons beyond your comprehension, I really must reject."

The puck dropped and Gabriel won the face-off with a quick flick of the stick. The crowd roared in appreciation as his team moved the puck up the ice. Gabriel passed to John and John passed the puck to Paul. Paul slid the puck past the goalie as the crowd erupted into cheers.

Gabriel's hands flew into the air; and before he went to congratulate Paul on a job well done, he turned to face a rather repulsive looking hockey player. "Why would I want to lose every year?" Gabriel smirked and then skated to where his line were celebrating.

"When we take over, Gabe," The demonic voice rose behind him, "You would have been saved."

Gabriel shook his head as he skated to the bench and took a seat as a different line took the ice. It was a phenomenal line out on the ice, which included the talents of: Joseph, Elijah, and Moses. Gabriel watched as the line moved the puck up the ice.

"Goal by Paul the Prophet. Assists to John the Baptist and Gabriel the Angelic." Horns and cheers followed the announcement. "Heavenly Hockey tournament; with your _Prophets of God _leading the _Minions of Hell_... 9 to 1. _Minions of Hell _goal was a fluke goal due to incessant cheating and threatening the ref's earthly life."

Gabriel snorted softly at the announcer - who would always generate boos from the crowd after saying such things about the Minions.

"Gabriel," he felt a comforting hand placed upon his shoulder, "Your line is up next."

"Yes, Father." Gabriel checked his stick, even though he really didn't need to, he'd had that stick for over 9,000 years and it had never broken or needed any type of repair work done. He figured that the grace of God was with him.

There was a change on the fly and Gabriel was out on the ice again.

"Ugh!" Gabriel checked a rather snotty looking demon with purple horns into the glass. "You'll pay for that!"

A few heckles from the Minion bench were directed towards the referee, "Are ya blind, ya moron? Blatant charging call! Get off yer knees ref; you're blowin' the game, eh!"

Gabriel continued on and finally got the puck again. He was skating through traffic when a rather large stick went flying towards his own. There was a large crack and his 9,000 year old stick broke into three pieces. He stopped in awe and looked over to the bench, where a brand new stick was being held out to him. Yet his feet wouldn't move.

"Losing your temper?" Gabriel knew that it was the voice of the Devil's Advocate. "Going to fight me, are you?"

"Never." Gabriel picked up the pieces of his stick. "Why stoop to your level, when I know you're going back to Hell when this is all over?"

x x x x x

Gabriel put up his feet and threw his head back. After three periods of intense hockey; the Prophets had won 17 to 2. The second goal was _actually_ scored by one of the Minions; and caused quite a riot. Every couple of years a Minion would actually score and there would be much celebration on their part; Gabriel didn't know why. They always lost anyway. And in the end; they always would lose. Of course, it wasn't written in the Bible, but God had planned it all out and Gabriel had seen the books.

Gabriel realized how sleepy he was; so before he took his nap he prayed. Right when he was about half-way asleep a small scratching sound came from his window. He blinked his eyes and sat up. He looked towards the window and saw a beautiful snow white owl with a small halo around its head. It had a golden envelope in its beak.

"What is this?" Gabriel opened the window and the bird flew in. "Thanks Hedwig."

Hedwig nodded her head as if to say 'You're welcome.' Gabriel scratched her head.

Gabriel opened the envelope and a piece of parchment fluttered to the ground.

To my most trusted Gabriel,

As you may already know, the magical world is at war again. I do not believe that what I have created will bring the downfall of those in the service of Satan in that world. I need you, my son, to find one angelic being who was once a part of earth and prepare them for a trip to the magical world.

He is not sending someone over the borders, Gabriel thought.

I know that you will think that sending an earthling to the magical world will be the wrong thing to do, but you must have faith.

I do, thought Gabriel.

I know you have faith in me and in every cause that I deem worthy, and even though I am breaking the bounderies of the worlds I really must send one with extraordinary power to help those in need. A godsend for the magical world is needed.

Who must I send?

You will send one who you feel is right; though I do request that whoever you do chose be of stout heart, grace, and perhaps in life found out that evil grows within but that the evil can be conquered.

I know that you will find the right one for the journey.

Peace, Joy, and Goodwill to you Gabriel,  
God

PS -

Pardon the pun, but that was one hell of a game! Mary said that you played beyond her expectations again. She really is pleased with you and asks for you to stop by for a visit whenever you have a chance. She's in a baking mood again - so when you go - prepare for muffins and cookies!

Gabriel put the letter down; and ruffled a few of Hedwig's feathers. He gave her a small treat and she nipped his finger gently. Hedwig flew to the window and then she was gone, flying away through the clouds.

"Stout heart, grace, and found out in life that evil grows within?" Gabriel reread the letter.

"Well..."

x x x x x

Buffy crossed her arms and heard the jingling of the manacles that were around her ankles and her wrists. She had tried to break them, but to no avail found out that they were as sturdy as the bars of her new cell. Buffy figured that those evil professors had enchanted the damn things. Not only that, but she didn't have the nice view that the high tower cell sported, because now she was in the dungeons. Where things were icky and gross and... well... icky and gross.

Snape had suggested the dungeons, and Buffy wished that she could kick him again. She smiled at the thought of when she had connected her foot to his stomach. That had been a nice feeling.

Buffy also remembered that the big wig Headmistress McGonagall (who Buffy thought was okay until now) had asked Lupin to make sure that Buffy wasn't full of dark magic. Lupin had had to put Buffy threw a few tests; some weren't so bad while others were not fun in the least. There had been some pain in the tests, but it was made better by the only good soul in the entire castle who was actually performing the tests. Lupin had been constantly apologizing, and it seemed that he was the only person with any actual feelings.

Buffy wished that someone would burst in through the doors and recue her. Rescue her like she was the damsel in distress (which she really was) and that the someone was her knight in shining armor (Buffy would even settle for an ugly demon to be that knight).

I'm so worried about Willow, Buffy thought, _and Xander. God, I hope they're alright. Please, I couldn't take it if they..._

Buffy mentally slapped any gory thoughts out of her head.

x x x x x

"Ooh!" Cordelia Chase pushed a strand of dark hair out of her face. "Wow - those red pumps - oh, wow." Even in death, Cordelia still had a thing for shoes. She picked up the box and pushed aside the paper, nearly drooling over the shoes.

"Now, don't we have enough shoes, Miss Cordelia?"

Cordelia looked up to Zurishaddai (they had become exceedingly good friends since she had passed through those pearly gates). "Yeah," she drawled out.

"However, a few more pairs wouldn't hurt." He took the box and placed it on a glass pedestal. "You take your time looking for another pair."

Cordelia thanked him and went off towards the back of the store. Cordelia had thanked every being and power when she had got to heaven and realized that she could still shop. Best thing was, everything was free. She really _was_ in heaven. Of course, she had been scolded once by the Big Man Himself about vanity, so Cordelia only dressed up for fun now, unlike when she first arrived when she would dress to impress. In heaven, everyone was beautiful and nobody had to wear make up or do their hair. No bad hair days or any thing that Cordelia found to be quite annoying on earth.

Speaking of earth, Cordelia had also learned that earth wasn't by itself. God had created a world exactly like earth - but it was named the magical world, hoping that evil wouldn't spread to that world, but the Devil had found his way there as well.

If Cordelia ever met Satan, she sure as HELL would give him a good talking to. She didn't appreciate a lot of crap that he had put her through when she was on earth, and she certainly did not appreciate him making a fool of God. The devil.

As Cordelia was trying on another pair of shoes, she looked up and saw a heavenly light at the door to the store.

"Cordelia?"

She stood up quickly, "Yes?"

"Come with me, please."

"Er..." She looked to Zurishaddai. He shrugged and Cordelia followed the light. "I'm coming."

x x x x x

"I'm going back?" Cordelia gaped at Gabriel.

"Not to earth, to the magical world." Gabriel placed a finger under her chin and pushed her mouth closed.

"Why?"

"You're needed."

"Why?"

"Because good won't reign supreme without you."

"Why?"

"You ask too many questions."

"Why-er... I mean... sorry." Cordelia folded her hands in her lap.

"God needs a heavenly being who is stout of heart, full of grace, and knows that evil

grows within, but that it can be conquered." Gabriel leaned back into the plush chair.

"I'm not very graceful."

"Full of grace - kindness, elegance, charm-"

"Still don't-"

"You don't give yourself much credit. I know you, I followed your life while I was up here. I was your guardian angel until that beast was made in you. Then God took over, and he believed that coming to stay with us here was what was best." Gabriel sighed. "And, I've told you that story about-"

"Fifty times." They both said as they laughed.

"I need to go and run a few more errands, Cordelia, but when you awake tomorrow, you will be in the magical world. You will meet many magical people, but only one will be worth your while."

"How will I know that they are the right person?" Cordelia stood up and walked with Gabriel to the door.

"You will know." Gabriel looked at her and then bent down to kiss her. The kiss wasn't long, but Cordelia thought it was a rather good kiss. After all, weren't angel's good at everything?

"What was that for?" Cordelia whispered.

Gabriel placed a hand to her head and closed his eyes. He pushed her back with his hand, and Cordelia felt the most immense pain radiate through her head. Flashes of light and destruction passed before her eyes.

As Cordelia fell to the floor a human, Gabriel sighed. "Forgive me for that, I know how much they have pained you before. It's the only way." He walked out of the door, and knew that Cordelia's form was slowly fading and that she would be waking soon in the magical world.

x x x x x

Cordelia's eyes fluttered open. She realized rather quickly that she was in a bed. A rather nice and plush bed.

"Ow, my head." She mumbled.

"Oh, dear, that hair!"

Cordelia looked up quickly, and everything flooded back to her. Gabriel's kiss and then pain.

"Bastard!" She shook her fist up into the air and then collapsed back onto the bed.

"Really, you must use a brush, you're only making it worse." The voice again.

"Who in GOD'S name is that!?" Cordelia flung herself over the side of the bed and looked around. She stood up. "Talk!"

"Just a nice comb through." Cordelia's eyes rested on the mirror.

"Riiiight - magical world," she said. "Lots of magical beings. Guess this is my first one."

It was at that moment that Cordelia suddenly realized something. She realized that pain was again with her in this world, she realized that kisses were bad, and she realized how much better heaven really was. Then with all the realizations, she knew she had the visions again.

Cordelia fell to the ground, landing on her hands and knees, as the vision engulfed her.

Musical notes dancing on air... a large stone door opening... a plump woman with a pointy hat was bustling around a book store... a few goblins behind large desks... a man with a snake-like face... green light... graveyards... Buffy... the Houses of Parliament collapsing... a group of cloaked figures standing before a large piece of glass... another man with black, messy hair and... a scar.

x _chapter's end _x

R&R. Y'all are really great at picking up little inconsistencies; so continue to let me know, because sometimes it's either I don't get my point across or because I really didn't realize what I did.

Perhaps you can start to see specimens of the plot now? I swear there is one; we're still in the beginning and right now nobody is supposed to know exactly what is going on. Just be patient - you saw glimpses of it in this chapter. Technically there are clues in each chapter, but only later on will you be able to actually tell that they were placed on purpose. Heh.

Look forward to Ch. 8 entitled:

Basking in the Hero Glory

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Buffy is saved from the clutches of those evil professors.

Questions/Stuff:

Anne-Marie : Did it really make the twins seem like they were Lockhart-ish? That wasn't the plan. I figured that since they would probably want to greet every customer into their shop that they would just charm some cardboard cutouts of themselves to do the greeting for them if they couldn't make it to the door in time. But now that I think about that, it does kinda seem that way doesn't it? Ha ha.

SilverPunk with an attitude : I can't make everyone meet up too soon! They're in different parts of the HP Universe - it'll take just a few more chapters - but everyone will reunite and then you'll really learn what's going on.

TheStatue : WTH, eh? LOL! Good! See, I'd be upset if you DID know what was going on. The back story hasn't been brought out yet for the HP world. Just stick through the madness for a few more chapters... then you won't be so confused.

texaswookie : Oh, yeah. I didn't think that a portkey would come from outside of Hogwarts grounds to the inside of Hogwarts. You know, what with all the spells and enchantments and wards surrounding Hogwarts. And... er... not to sound entirely evil when I say this... but it might not even be a portkey. After all - the Scoobies did find themselves in a different dimension. He he. I am evil, no? But, I definitely appreciate you bringing that to my attention; I am after all completely insane and sometimes canon stuff is blipped right out of my mind.

Again - I thank everybody for their reviews. A few more chapters and I'll do another Thank You section.


	8. Basking in the Hero Glory

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot (and maybe a few made up characters here and there). Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. For the love of all things purple... I'm a broke college kid. Don't sue.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: The only reason why I had hockey in the last chapter was due to the sheer fact of hockey withdrawal. It really served no purpose except my own (and perhaps for the few readers also going through some withdrawal). Hehehehe. Though there is a clue/hint in the hockey madness, like everything else, pretty much! Chapter 11 is where you will learn mostly everything you need to know for the story to make sense. Until then, sit through the little side adventures.

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Chapter 8

Basking in the Hero Glory

"Miss Summers."

Buffy knew that voice and wished that she were able to break through her chains. She'd give anything to poke both of his eyes out.

"Are you ready to have another talk?" Snape's dark figure emerged from the shadows by the door.

"Why not?" Buffy stood up and brushed her hands together. "Always time to kick your butt again."

"How very endearing," Snape's voice dripped with sarcasm. "However, it won't be myself who you will be talking to, Miss Summers."

Buffy was about to fly another comment his way, but Snape had whipped out his wand. Buffy ducked as the first spell hit the wall.

"You can't run."

"Duh."

"Funis!" Snape bellowed as ropes shot out from his wand.

Buffy's wrist was caught in one rope; and with her chains on, it was quite a chore to dodge the others and release herself from the rope on her wrist.

"I'm impressed."

"Please," Buffy huffed. "I've had _so_ much worse. And from much better looking... er.. things... too!"

"Petrificus Totalus!" That time, Buffy didn't move quick enough. Her body stiffened and she fell right to the floor.

__

Damn, Buffy thought.

x x x x x

"Again, we apologize for having to put you under another spell."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yet, you have no problems with putting me in a cage?"

"For safety reasons... no."

"Look, Minerva, the only reason why I beat the pulp outta Snape," Buffy clasped her hands around the bars, "was because he was rummaging around in my brain. And, I got a lot of crap that he doesn't need to know about, thanks very much."

"I understand, but you are, indeed, a strong adversary."

"Look!" Buffy slapped her hand to her forehead. She was getting no where with these... weirdos.

"No, you look!" Snape stepped up. "She is the Headmistress here and you WILL respect her, or I will hex you into oblivion, and don't think I can't. I'm not all peppermints and biscuits like other wizards."

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Severus," McGonagall put a hand on his shoulder, Buffy wondered why on God's green earth she would have done such a thing, "I'm perfectly capable of continuing our conversation without your help."

"Yeah, be a good boy, Snape." Buffy batted her eyelashes.

"Severus, you have other skills." McGonagall turned her attention back to Buffy. "Now, I would like your complete and utter attention, Miss Summers. I need you to be completely honest and-"

"I've been honest!"

"Please, Buffy," McGonagall held up one hand. "Now, please tell me how you dropped in on Professor Lupin's class."

Buffy sighed and sat down on her small chair. She would have broken it by now and threw all the mini-stakes she had made at Snape, but she didn't like the thought of being hexed again.

"Well, my friend Xander, he had gone to Egypt." Buffy paused, but saw that McGonagall was still intently listening. "So, we were all in Paris, France when-"

"That's not funny, Buffy." McGonagall's face grew stern.

"What?" Buffy was shocked.

"Headmistress, let her continue," Snape's voice came from somewhere in the room, but Buffy was still worried about that look that Minerva had on her face.

"While we were waiting for him there, he came back with these three rocks." Buffy paused waiting for another outburst. None came. "These Egyptian rocks had a lot of heiroglyphs and my friend Willow must have touched one, because she was gone. Then I touched one, and I disappeared too. Next thing I knew... _poof_... I was here."

No sound came from either McGonagall or Snape for about a minute, however Snape did step forward. Buffy felt it would be nice of her to not say anything evil for the moment, since he'd gotten her out of the evil-glare from McGonagall.

"What were you doing in Paris?" He was looking at the floor, with his hand at his chin.

Buffy thought long and hard as to what her answer should be. She didn't know if telling these people about her Slayer abilities would be a good thing or a bad thing.

"Tell the truth," Snape's voice was serious, and they locked eyes.

"Killing... vam-monsters."

"Vamonsters?"

"Monsters."

"Monsters?"

"Yeah." Buffy nodded her head.

"I see it, she's completely telling the truth." Snape's gaze moved from Buffy to Minerva's. Buffy blinked. He had gone into her brain again. The bastard.

"But, Paris?"

Buffy didn't know if she should tell them about her Slayer hearing or not. Whispering really didn't do much in the entire - 'let's-be-discreet' area.

"I know, but I see it. It's in all of its glory in her mind."

"Perhaps, she's insane?"

"HEY!" Buffy's mouth dropped open. "I haven't called you any names yet Minerva, but boy could I. You just wait until I have a field day with your name!"

They both looked at her, like she was indeed insane. Buffy crossed her arms and leaned back against the back bars of her cage. She looked over her shoulder and saw a bright orb in the sky. The full moon had just emerged from behind a wall of clouds.

x x x x x

"I AM SO SORRY!"

Buffy awoke quickly from her sleeping (which in a cage - she had gotten a slight crick in her neck) when the loud bangs erupted around her.

Buffy's eyes adjusted quickly and she saw what was causing the racket. A woman with emblazoned yellow hair was picking herself up off the ground. Her yellow hair was also splotched with green, which Buffy realized were leaves. Above her head, a rather large broom was hovering, and on that broom a very familiar looking figure was clutching the broom.

"Xander?"

"Buffy?"

"XANDER!" Buffy flew to the side of the cage and tried to break the sides. No use, of course, but she at least had to try.

"What is the meaning of this Nymphadora?" Buffy rolled her eyes as Snape swept passed the cage and the yellow-haired lady to Xander.

"Oh... my... God." Xander fell off the broom and stood up quickly. Buffy saw him brush out twigs and leaves from his hair. "Buffy!"

"Hold it." Snape whipped out his wand and pointed it at Xander.

"Holy flyin' circus monkeys," Xander held up his hands and looked at the wand.

"Severus!" The lady bumbled over to Snape and lowered the wand. "You leave him alone."

"Who is he?"

"Xander."

"You bring a stranger to Hogwarts? Nymphadora Tonks! What has gotten into your head, girl?" Snape was trying to keep his calm, but he was nearly about to lose it.

"He's a muggle."

"MUGGLE!"

"Uh, can we _not_ talk about me like I'm not here?" Xander butted in.

"Shut up!" Snape whirled the wand back on him again.

"You leave him alone!" Buffy was yanking on the bars so hard, that her hands were beginning to hurt.

"Like you're going to do anything about it." As soon as Snape turned back around, he was knocked back onto the floor.

"Don't you talk to Buffy that way." Xander rubbed his fist and looked to Tonks, whose mouth was gaping open. "Sorry."

"Oh, no, he probably deserved it." Tonks said as she began to move towards Buffy in the cage. "You know her."

Buffy thought it odd that the yellow haired woman seemed very nonchalant about Xander just punching out Snape. Hell, Buffy wished she'd have done it.

Xander bounded to the cage. They tried to hug, but the best thing they found that they could do was hold hands.

"Xander - I am _so_ glad to see you."

"Same here, Buff."

x x x x x

"You don't think ol' Sev is gonna attack me in the night, do ya?" Xander fluffed a pillow and collapsed onto the bed.

"Neh. He's scared of me." Buffy laughed.

After a long talk with McGonagall, Snape, Tonks, and a few other teachers - which Buffy did notice that Remus wasn't one of those invited - had all come to the conclusion that Buffy and Xander were not ...

__

Oh, what did they call us?

Letum Essum. The muggle type.

__

Oh, yeah.

Buffy figured it was Latin, but had absolutely no idea what the words meant. In fact, when she had asked, Snape had told her it was of no concern to her. Also, McGonagall had called the rocks a type of portkey, but it still didn't explain why she had been so upset when Buffy had mentioned Paris. Buffy made a mental note to talk to Remus whenever she saw him again.

"Buff - you haven't seen Will have you?"

Buffy automatically felt bad, after seeing Xander, she had totally forgotten about Willow. "No."

At seeing Buffy's sad face, Xander perked up; "We'll see her soon. She can take good care of herself."

"I know," Buffy paused and then threw a pillow at Xander. "Hey, thanks for saving me, I'd probably still be in that cage were it not for you."

"All in a day's work," Xander grabbed the pillow in midair and fluffed it too. He threw his head back onto his pile of pillows and threw his hands out. "Continue the praises while I bask in all of my heroic glory."

x x x x x

x _chapter's end _x

Well, there it is. This chapter gave me a lot of problems - on many different levels. So, please, for the love of all things, don't run away after this chapter. I had to bring Buffy and Xander together... or else nothing else could happen in the story. Read and review, please and thanks.

Look forward to Ch. 9 entitled:

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Whimsical Visionary Expertise  
_Cordelia searches and finds._

This chapter is coming along fantastically. It's my favorite so far.


	9. Whimsical Visionary Expertise

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: I really don't have anything to say; beside the fact that I tweaked the disclaimer. Enjoy! Oh, and if you would like to Beta this story; please send me an e-mail with the heading, "Beta for TLG." I'd really like a Beta to check over my little inconsistencies, because let's face it... I can't catch them all.

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Chapter 9

Whimsical Visionary Expertise

"Ooh," Cordelia opened another drawer and fiddled with its contents. The first drawer she had opened was the socks and underwear drawer, the next had been the regular clothes drawer (_And trust all those up in high places to not give me ONE low neckline._), and now the one she had just open had these beautiful long robes. Purple, green, black, and dark blue... and a few other colors, but Cordelia really only noticed the purple and green robes.

"I think the green would go fantastically." Cordelia had gotten used to the mirror talking by now.

"You think so?" Cordelia held it up and threw the garment around her shoulders. She moved in front of the mirror. "Oh, yeah, I think so too. Get a white shirt and a-"

"No - look in the last drawer - you have matching robe wear."

"Nuh-uh!" Cordelia flew to the last drawer and nearly fainted when she saw all of the beautiful clothes. "Oh, thank you so much. I really do have friends in high places."

x x x x x

Cordelia walked through the streets in her newly obtained green robes. She felt like she was on a movie set, but knew that this was just how things were in this world. As she walked she found herself in front of the very building where she needed to be.

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Gringotts

Cordelia looked down at the paper in her hand. She was in the right place. Now all she had to do was walk up the steps and go inside and get her own wizard money from a goblin.

As soon as she stepped onto the first step, alarms began to go off. Everyone around the bank looked immediately up at the door. Cordelia followed everyone's gaze to the top of the stairs. A man with dark features had his wand out and was shouting obscenities. Cordelia wished that she could push his dark hair out of his eyes, it was rather annoying.

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A wand? A wand! Wait... how come I don't have one? Cordelia thought.

"Antonin Dolohov!" A man in the streets pointed his hand up at the man in front of the building.

It was at that moment that Cordelia wished she was like everyone else. She wished she could scream and run like a maniac, instead she fell to the ground. As screams erupted around her, Cordelia began to see different scenes play out in front of her very eyes.

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Dolohov in the middle of a burning city. The Eiffel Tower falling to the ground. People screaming.

"What is this?" A voice was above Cordelia and a hand grabbed the back of her neck and yanked her up. "One who has no fear?"

Cordelia saw the face of Dolohov up close and the visions came to her again.

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'It's at Hogwarts. I know it.' Dolohov speaking to an entire congregation of hooded figures.

"Ah!" Cordelia clutched her head and she was dropped back onto the steps. "Ow..."

"Insanity." Dolohov kneeled down towards Cordelia and Cordelia got another look at his face.

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Green light erupting from his wand. Dozens of bodies surrounding him. All with their lifeless eyes open.

Cordelia couldn't take the pain anymore and her eyes shut, she was fainting. Right before she lost all consciousness, she heard Dolohov speak.

"And so it begins..."

x x x x x

Cordelia's eyes fluttered open. She sat up quickly and realized she was no longer in front of Gringotts.

"Oh, hello."

Cordelia's head flicked towards the voice. "Who are you?"

"You don't know?" The man asked incredulously.

Cordelia gave a slight laugh, "Well, um... no." There was a pause. "Nope. Don't know."

"Wow." The man polished his glasses on his shirt. Cordelia was instantly reminded of Giles - what with the Britishness and the cleaning of the glasses.

"Why, are you, like, famous?" Cordelia wondered if this guy was a follower of that Dolohov kid.

"Somewhat."

"Are you a rock star?"

"Nothing like that." He ruffled his black hair. "Don't worry about it; it's kind of refreshing that you have no clue."

Cordelia huffed. She _did_ have a clue now; he had been in her first vision. But she still didn't have any idea who he was exactly.

"I'm Harry."

"Cordelia."

"Nice name. It's different." He helped her up from the couch.

"Yeah, it means Sea Queen or something." Cordelia mentally slapped herself. _What a way to start a conversation, there Cor. Stupid._

"I have no idea what Harry means." They both laughed, though Cordelia wished it was about something more intelligent that she had said. He was decent looking; though he looked a lot older than she did.

"So where exactly am I?"

"I had to get you away from the Death Eaters... and my place was the closest." Harry sighed. "It's not much, but it's secret and nobody else knows where it is."

"Oh." Cordelia figured that it must be his famousness that made him want to have a secret hideout. "It's nice."

"I'm not here a lot, so it's not furnished well."

"Still nice." Cordelia realized how small it really was. He obviously wasn't a wealthy famous person; which Cordelia had nothing against. She just thought it was odd. Most famous people were wealthy.

"Why didn't you take out your wand?" Cordelia hadn't realized how long the silence had been, until he had talked.

"What?" Cordelia then felt a slight weight in the front pocket of her cloak. Her hand went automatically there and her voice continued without her even thinking about it. "Oh, my wand." Her hands continued to move and her voice continued on. "I was closest to Dolohov and if I had taken out my wand, I most surely wouldn't be here right now."

Cordelia's voice and hands were free again. _That was odd._

"Yeah, good thinking." Harry said.

"We help." A whispered voice bounced off the walls.

"Gabriel?" Cordelia looked around; and didn't see the odd look that Harry was giving her. As soon as she realized that she was being stared at, she automatically stopped looking.

"Are you ... y'know ..."

"Uh, I have this... thing. See?" Cordelia put her wand away; figuring it would ease the tension a little. "I'm not crazy or anything, but I have visions."

Harry rolled his eyes and laughed. Cordelia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at his reaction. "I do!"

"No, I believe you, it's just, I had this crazy professor at Hogwarts. She was a Seer-"

"Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, it's a-"

"Dolohov said something about Hogwarts." Cordelia looked at the floor, trying to remember.

Harry looked as if a train had hit him. "Hogwarts? He was talking about Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, in this vision I had." Cordelia squinted her eyes, trying to see it all over again. "Hooded figures and all."

"Oh, no." Harry took Cordelia's hand. "I apologize, but I must take you back out into the streets. The chaos has died, and Aurors have surrounded the premises of Diagon Alley." He took her through a door and down a large staircase. He handed her a blindfold, "If you don't mind."

"Not at all." Cordelia was surprised that she understood everything that Harry was saying. Aurors, Death Eaters, Diagon Alley. Those Heavenly Beings knew what all to put in her brain.

"All right." Cordelia felt the blindfold taken off.

"That was quick," Cordelia said incredulously.

"Yes, well, I really must go." He looked up at a clock in the middle of the town. "I would like to talk to you again, soon. Would you meet me at four at _Flourish and Blotts_? I'll treat you to ice cream afterwards."

"Sounds like a deal." Cordelia's stomach growled as Harry smiled at her and then went off in the opposite direction. "People are so weird here."

Cordelia then realized that she actually knew the general direction to go to get to _Flourish and Blotts_.

"First and foremost, I need some food."

x _chapter's end _x

Please read and review. I totally adore each and every review! Sorry for the shortness. The next chapter is quite long...

Look forward to Ch. 10 entitled:

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And Thus They Travel  
_Mr. Peppermint-and-Biscuits tricks Buffy and Xander... and where has Willow been?_


	10. And Thus They Travel

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: Yup. Antonin Dolohov is a real character from the Harry Potter books. In OotP he cast the spell on Hermione that made her like faint or something (don't shoot me, I haven't read it in a while). I just loved his name... thought he'd be a good evil dude.

This is not the beta'd chapter, but the beta'd version will be up soon. I just felt that I needed to go on ahead and post this chapter. Updates won't be as quick as they once were, because of school and work.

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Chapter 10

And Thus They Travel

"Hey, Buff," Xander looked over his shoulder and pointed to a staircase, "let's go down these."

"What's the point?" Buffy followed him down the steps, and was slightly surprised that the steps hadn't moved. "We're lost."

The two of them had been walking up and down steps for about half an hour. Every now and then they would come to a landing and walk through the floor, but it never turned out to be a good thing. One time they ran into a transparent wall that then began to shout obscenities at them. Xander had shouted some back, when a schoolteacher had walked by, and gave them a sort of odd look.

"Stating the obvious won't help," Xander held up his hand, "only hinder."

"Fine," Buffy huffed.

"Did you think those lemon poppy seed muffins were good?" Xander followed Buffy up a staircase that then switched directions and took them up two floors instead of one.

"They tasted funny, didn't they?" Buffy called back. "I kinda liked those raspberry flavored ones. That elf... _thing_... said that she had made them herself."

"Those elves are awesome cooks," Xander agreed.

"What are you doing?"

Buffy and Xander both looked up. There was a group of three girls, they had blue robes on, and looked like they thought Buffy and Xander were the weirdest people in the world.

"Oh, just going up to our room," Buffy stated. After hearing their posh British accents, Buffy had perked up her shoulders and had enunciated all of her words very clearly.

"Oh." One of the other girls rolled her eyes. "Having trouble with the staircases, are we?" There was a murmur of giggles.

Xander watched as they took a staircase down and then another up and were walking through a doorway. They continued to look back at Buffy and Xander, laughing the entire way.

"How rude!" Buffy put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "So - which bunch of stairs do you want to tackle next?"

"Does it matter?" Buffy sighed.

"Oh, come on, Buff," Xander patted her on the back. "The glass is half full and it does matter. Go on, say it."

"The glass is half full and it does matter." Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Atta girl." Xander nodded for Buffy to choose the next staircase. Buffy chose the up one, which she swore they had already been on before.

"Y'know, I always wonder how people come up with those sayings. Glass half full versus the glass if half empty. I mean, it's never going to be exactly half full or half empty, because nobody is perfect and all those nanoliters and stuff-"

"Hey, Buff," Xander interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"I think the words I'm looking for are, _up_ and _shut_."

Buffy gave him a slightly annoyed look, but it was gone as soon as they came to the new floor. Xander looked down the hallway at the new floor they had just reached.

"This hall looks safe and giggling-girl free." Xander pointed out.

"Let's give it a test drive." Buffy looked at the torches lining the halls. She would have thought that it would have made the hall look incredibly spooky, but in fact it did the opposite. The hall looked vibrant and full of light. Buffy wondered where all the light was coming from.

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You . . . you . . .

Buffy suddenly stood straight up, all of her senses on high alert. Xander who had been beside her, had slowly slunk back and was behind her.

"Did you hear that?" Xander whispered.

"Yeah," Buffy took another step forward.

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Are . . . are . . .

"Buffy, let's turn back." Xander took Buffy by the hand and tried to turn her around.

"I want to know what's saying that;" Buffy ridded herself up Xander's grasp, though it wasn't easy. _He must be working out_, she thought.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Xander pleaded.

"Not a cat," Buffy replied.

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Entering . . . entering . . .

"Look, I'm really freaking out," Xander was not very happy, Buffy could tell.

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The . . . the . . .

"Shh!" Buffy walked forward faster.

Xander felt he had no choice but to follow her.

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Statue. . . statue . . .

Buffy and Xander continued on without any words, waiting for the rest of the message. They continued down the hall, and finally ran into a door. They looked at each other and then at the door.

"We're entering the statue, huh?" Xander whispered sarcastically.

"We got this far," Buffy huffed.

"If you say-"

"Let's go in."

"That's what I thought you'd say."

"Xander," Buffy grabbed the doorknob. "It can't be that bad."

Buffy pushed open the door and the whispering message flowed from the air.

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You . . . are . . . entering . . . the . . . statue . . . garden . . .

"Oh, happy joy," Xander coughed as he breathed in some of the stale air.

As soon as Buffy had stepped into the darkened room lights flashed up all around. Instead of greenery, all that could be seen were statues. Statues of plants, a fountain, and a few people.

"Welcome," a voice to Buffy's right spoke. "We rarely have visitors."

"Wouldn't be that spooky whispering down the hall, keeping all the fun-seekers out would it?" Xander added his thoughts as he stepped in.

Buffy turned to face the speaker, and when she turned all she could see were statues. She took a step forward to find the speaker and when she did a statue of a man turned to face her.

"Two visitors!"

Buffy looked up at the statues as all of them began to turn to face her and Xander.

"Two!" One statue exclaimed and jumped off its post. She ran towards Xander and took him into her arms. "Oh, he is quite lovely."

Xander was rendered speechless as the statue bent forward and kissed him squarely on the lips. His eyes widened and though he tried to push the statue away, there was no way the stone was moving.

Buffy was about to run and save her friend, but a strong arm wrapped around her as well. She was turned around and came face to face with what Buffy could only describe as a Wolf-Man statue. It howled at her and then released its grasp. Buffy then moved quickly to Xander who was still at the mercy at the smoochy-statue.

Buffy grabbed one of the arms and pulled as hard as she could. Nothing. She tried again, and the statue flung her off. When Buffy hit a stone plant, she knew she had a bruise.

"Okay," Buffy said to herself. "Didn't appreciate that!"

Before she could move in again, she was surrounded by statues.

"She's just having fun," one said.

Another said, "She won't kill him."

"Let her be," a small statue complained.

All Buffy could do was hope that none of them decided to make-out with her.

x x x x x

Cordelia was at the base of the staircase leading up to the open doors of Gringotts. She still needed money, and she wasn't going anywhere without her money. Dolohov or no Dolohov.

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Pfft, she thought. _What a stupid name anyway._

As Cordelia walked in she heard a hauntingly beautiful song drifting through the rather large room. She turned around and saw a man who had a white mask on playing the piano. She sighed and then walked on.

"May I help you?" A ragged voice came from one of the windows.

"Yes, Cordelia Chase," Cordelia passed her slip of paper to the goblin. "Vault number-"

"I can read perfectly well Miss Chase." He turned around and handed another goblin the paper. "100 galleons, 100 sickles, and 100 knuts... correct?"

"Yes." Cordelia nodded.

"Go wait over there." The goblin pointed close to where the piano was.

"Oh, yes," Cordelia mumbled. "Not at all ornery. Damn gob-"

The music began to wash over her again. She sat at the closest chair to the piano that she could find. Cordelia rested her head on her hand as she stared at the master pianist. His voice echoed off the walls, and Cordelia did a quick check around. She noticed that she was the only one actually listening.

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This people are insane! she thought. _This man is a genius!_

"The power of the music of the night..." Cordelia muttered. "Vaguely familiar."

The music stopped and Cordelia applauded, slightly overzealous, but felt it was deserved.

"Thank you," the man faced her, his voice raspy and rather deep.

Cordelia just smiled and then realized who he was. "Oh, my God!"

"What?" The man looked around. "What is it?"

"You're..."

"I'm..."

"You're the-the... Opera Ghost!" Cordelia stood up and stepped closer towards the man.

"No," the Phantom shook his head. "My name is Erik."

"Erik?" Cordelia asked incredulously as the man took off the white mask, revealing a rather beautiful face.

"Yes, I'm a Phantom impersonator." Erik smiled and bowed.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and then sat as far away from Erik, the Phantom of the Opera impersonator, that she could. Finally after hearing that imposter play a few more tunes (that weren't even from _Phantom of the Opera_ - who ever told him that 'Mary Had Little Lamb' should be sang opera style was sadly mistaken), Cordelia heard her last name called.

"Here you are!" The goblin literally screamed at her as he handed her a purple velvet bag, that Cordelia found to be a little on the heavy side.

Cordelia moved towards the door, giving one last look to the Phantom... er... Erik... and walking out of Gringotts. She realized how hungry she was when her stomach grumbled and growled at her, so Cordelia set off for lunch.

x x x x x

"Oh, my God!" Xander spit out some more chunks of rock. "That was so, totally not," he wiped his mouth, "cool. Not at all."

Buffy patted Xander's back as he spit out more rock. "Wow, that was some lovin' she was giving you," Buffy held back a laugh.

"Damn randy rock." Xander cursed as more pieces of rock came out of his mouth.

"They rarely get contact and some cannot contain their emotions." Lupin was standing at the other side of his office, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Xander nodded his head, "I noticed."

"Thanks, Lupin." Buffy nodded her head. "Will the statues be okay?"

"You actually _care_ about whether or not the statues are going to be okay!?" Xander took a sip of water and swirled it around in his mouth, before spitting it out. "Gross..."

"They'll grow back every part that was destroyed." Lupin nodded. "Very versatile statues."

"Oh," Buffy smiled and patted Xander's shoulder again. She didn't get how Lupin could just waltz into the room with his wand and all of the statues back away from him. Buffy had kicked and punched, to no avail. She did have a few more bruises to speak of, which didn't bother her too much; they'd be gone by tomorrow.

"Perhaps we should take you to Madame Pomfrey, Buffy."

"Oh, I'll be fine," Buffy smiled with appreciation. "I'll be better before you know it."

"Why?" Xander cried as he spat out another piece of rock.

"Well, I must leave you two, but if you take the staircases down to the fifth floor, you'll find your room." Lupin smiled and locked the door. "Just shut the door on your way out, if you would, please."

"Okie," Xander spat, "Dokie."

Lupin left, but not before Xander saw him smile. Xander narrowed his eyes, but didn't have time to hate the guy, as another piece of rock seemed to be stuck under his tongue.

"Why are there so many?" Xander stood up and grabbed his rock cup.

"I told you, she was kissing you for like ten minutes before Lupin got there." Buffy took Xander's arm and led him towards the door. "Come on, let's go."

Buffy led Xander down to the fifth floor, which wasn't as hard as she would have imagined, and they found their room without any problems. As soon as Buffy had collapsed onto the bed, and Xander had removed himself to the bathroom for some more rock spitting, there was a knock at the door.

Buffy opened the door, and the smile fell from her face.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

"I heard from a very reliable source that you and your friend have been running foolishly around the castle." Snape pushed Buffy aside and entered into the room.

"Buff, what's... hey!" Xander emerged from the bathroom and glared at Snape. "What does he want?"

"I only came to help, Harris."

Xander's nose flared when Snape called him by his last name. In fact, it dawned on him, he didn't think that Snape actually knew his last name. The dude was smarter than he let on.

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Sneaky bastard.

"You can find a special potion in a shop not far from here that will help with the rock problem;" Snape glared at Xander and then turned his attention to Buffy. He handed her a small glass with a sooty-substance inside.

"What's this for?" Buffy tried not to look too disgusted by the sheer fact that he had touched the glass she was holding in her hand.

"Floo Powder," he said. "Just step into your fireplace, take a hand full, and say the place of your destination and then drop the powder at your feet. Quite simple really, even a squib could do it."

"Look, we don't want your help;" Buffy pushed the powder back into Snape's hands.

"Wait!" Xander snatched it away from Snape, a rock flying out of his mouth. "What's the name of the place?"

"206 Knockturn Alley." Snape cocked an eyebrow at the both of them.

Xander began to whisper what Snape had just told him, trying to remember the address.

"Xander," Buffy shook her head. "I don't think-"

"Hey, you're not the one," Xander coughed and another rock flew from his mouth, "spitting up rocks here, okay?"

"Fine," Buffy turned towards Snape. "Thanks." She didn't look him in the eye.

"We must do what we can." Snape said as he turned around and slammed the door shut behind him.

"So coming with," Buffy said as she stepped into the fireplace beside Xander. She took a handful of the powder and they looked at each other.

"206 Knockturn Alley!" They cried as they tossed the powder down at their feet.

Buffy saw green flames jump up around her face and then disappear as dozens of fireplaces came into view. She began to feel slightly sick, and when she looked over at Xander, she could tell that he was feeling the same too. She saw another rock fly from his mouth.

Then, with a loud thud, they were tossed from the fireplace and landed in the middle of a room. Buffy looked around and already did not like what she saw.

"Xander?" Buffy whispered, but when she looked down at Xander, she noticed that he was unconscious. "I'm gonna kill him..." Buffy's reference to Snape was cut short by the booming sounds of feet running right towards Buffy and Xander.

Buffy had only just pulled Xander a foot from where they had fallen when a wild and crazy man was running right towards them. He hopped over them and ran right into a sword that was on display. He then exploded into dust.

Buffy then heard another pair of footsteps, these slightly slower, and yanked Xander under a table with herself. She pulled the tablecloth as to where they wouldn't be seen. Buffy peeked under the cloth and saw a rather old man sweeping up the dust. He then turned around and went the other way, whistling as he walked.

Buffy watched to make sure that the man was no where to be seen. She turned her attention to Xander and shook him. Nothing happened. She glanced back through the cloth... not a soul.

"Xander!" Buffy screamed as she slapped him. He suddenly awoke and bumped his head on the top of the table, causing the dust to be stirred. Xander felt the sneeze start to form.

It was going to be the sneeze of all sneezes. He tried to tell Buffy, to prepare her for the mighty strength of it, but the sneeze came way too soon.

Both of their eyes widened and locked on to each other's as sirens began to go off. Someone knew that they were there.

x x x x x

Cordelia looked up at a sign.

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The Deli-Witch

"Ooh - sounds good," Cordelia said, "Just hope they don't have actual witch sandwiches."

"Hello," a witch at the door was smacking her lips on a sort of candy, "Welcome to the Deli-Witch, home of the real Sand Witch. Just one, lass?"

Cordelia looked around, "Look's like."

"Follow me," she smacked her lips again and sucked her teeth as she sat Cordelia at a small round table. "Here's ya menu, love."

"Thank you," Cordelia smiled at her, but realized that she wasn't paying attention. Cordelia looked around and saw pictures of wizards hanging on the walls. In fact, every picture on the walls the wizard was exceedingly good-looking, and rather scantily dressed. Cordelia then looked around to make sure she wasn't in some strip joint. The place looked deserted, minus a few other witches and the servers. No wizards running around in speed-o's was a good thing.

"Whatcha want?" A witch placed her hand on her hip as she asked Cordelia.

"Um, I'd like some pumpkin juice, and..." Cordelia looked at the name on the witch's uniform - Batilda; "I'd like to try that Pot-Brewed Potpie."

"Chicken or beef?"

"Chicken, please," Cordelia nodded her head.

"HEY MERL!" Cordelia jumped as the witch screamed at the top of her lungs towards the man behind the counter. "Pumpkin juice on the rocks!"

"Right-o!"

"And _SOMEONE_ needs to go and PLUCK a DAMN chicken!" The witch hurriedly moved away from Cordelia's table after that. Cordelia's ears were still ringing. She shook her head, clearing out the echoes of Batilda within her brain.

Merl brought Cordelia her pumpkin juice and as she sipped, she noticed the daily papers were hanging from the ceiling. She reached up and grabbed the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and The Quibbler. She figured that she had a while if the chicken was still running around alive in the back.

The first paper that Cordelia looked at had a headline that intrigued her...

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Dolohov Attacks Beauxbatons - No Survivors Reported

After a week of no response from the Headmistress at France's school for witches and wizards, Aurors were sent to inspect the grounds. Not one body was found, neither alive, nor dead.

However, a note from the infamous Dark Wizard Dolohov, revealed that he killed every student and teacher, but that information is not to be leaked out.

Cordelia took in a deep breath. Dolohov was one bad dude.

The next paper, Witch Weekly, had Harry's picture on the front of the page.

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Boy-Who-Lived... Real Hunk of a **Man**_ Now._

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Wow, Cordelia thought. _So, he is like a rock star_.

The last paper, was more of a magazine, The Quibbler, had a rather odd headline...

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More Vicious Flobberworm Attacks. Are Yetis to blame?

x x x x x

Buffy pulled Xander up with a little effort. She yanked him towards, what she believed was the back of the shop. A mirror with a face screamed in their general direction as they ran.

Buffy could barely think with the blaring alarms still thundering around them.

"Buffy!" Xander pulled Buffy in a different direction. "A door!"

Buffy set it in her mind to run into the door, it looked to be made of metal. Buffy smiled to herself. This would be easy to break through. She let go of Xander's arm and ran into the door, instead of breaking, it acted as it was made of rubber and flung her to the ground.

"Ow!" Xander grimaced for her. "Looks like that hurt."

"Yep," Buffy wrinkled her nose as she sat back up. "Help me push it, Xander!"

As the pushed, Buffy looked back to see the old man slowly moving in their general direction.

"Hey!"

"Uh-oh!" Xander looked and saw that the man had spotted them.

Xander and Buffy began to push even harder, but the door wasn't budging. Xander flung his hands in the air.

"That's it, I'm done for." He watched as the man was about twelve feet away. Xander clasped the doorknob and pulled with little effort. "Whoa..."

"Let's go!" Buffy yanked Xander in and slammed the door behind them. She noticed the deadbolt and bolted the door. The doorknob began to move around wildly. Then as if magically told to unlock, the deadbolt unlocked itself.

"We're done for now," Xander moaned as he leaned up against the stone wall. As the doorknob turned, the stone moved to reveal a secret passage. "Whoa..."

Buffy pushed Xander in and followed him, closing the stone right when the door opened. Buffy put her ear to the stone wall and heard the man run down the other passage.

"Good going, Xander." Buffy smiled at him.

"All in a day's work," Xander nudged her with his elbow.

"Look," Buffy ignored Xander's jab and walked towards an opening above them.

"A way out of this hellhole," Xander nodded his head and they both climbed out of the passageway.

"Do you realize who did this to us?" Buffy complained as she brushed her arms and legs off.

"Oh, you mean, Greasy-Hair Man?"

"I hate him, Xander;" Buffy took in a deep breath. "When I see him again, I'm going to kill him."

"Can I watch?" Xander asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Cool," Xander then quickly turned and tripped over a protruding piece of stone. He almost regained his balance, but when he used a wall for support, the wall began to crumble, and without another breath, he had slipped into a dark pit.

"Xander!" Buffy screamed.

There was no answer, as Buffy prepared to follow him.

"Xander?" Buffy then followed her friend into a dark-blackish blue yonder...

x x x x x

Cordelia tapped her fingers. She looked up at the town clock; it read 4:10. Cordelia stood up quickly, made sure she was in front of Flourish and Blotts, and then took in a deep breath.

"He stood me up!" She said rather loudly.

Cordelia grabbed her purple bag, ready to head back to her room. As Cordelia slung to purple bag over her shoulder, she heard a slight thunk.

"Ouch," a redheaded woman cried.

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

Cordelia's eyes widened. It couldn't be. Not in this world. She wasn't supposed to be in this world.

"_Willow_?"

x _chapter's end _x

Please read and review. Told you it was rather lengthy; I made it fun like that!!

Isn't the Phantom lovely!? Agh! Of course, I made him an impersonator, couldn't have Cordelia falling for him, wouldn't sit right with the story. Ha ha! But, if you haven't seen _Phantom of the Opera_ - go see it now! NOW! I tell you, "NOW!" See it, and love it my preciousessss! Love the Phantom! Love him! (( cough )) All done with my Phantom ravings, now.

Look forward to Ch. 11 entitled:

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And Thus They Meet  
_Who meets? Where do they meet? Meat market? Maybe so... maybe no._


	11. And Thus They Meet

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: Here it be! Sorry it took me a little while, but I'll always update! Also, I broke up this chapter into two, since I thought it fit better to have Chapter 12 be the chapter where you find out what exactly is going on.... :) ENJOY!

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Chapter 11

And Thus They Meet

"Willow?" Cordelia reached out and touched her shoulder, just to make sure that it wasn't a dream Willow.

"Cordelia?" Willow also looked surprised. "Wow, you were the last person that I expected to see... here."

Cordelia was taken slightly aback. Of course Willow would be shocked... the 'supposed to be dead' factor and all.

"Last time I heard, you were in a coma," Willow said casually.

"Oh," Cordelia shook her head and waved her hand. "Yeah, came out of that."

There was a silence that came between the two. Finally, Cordelia yanked Willow towards her, breaking the awkwardness with a huge hug.

"It's really good to see you," Cordelia let go of Willow and sat back down on the bench.

"Yeah," Willow smiled. "You look..."

Cordelia and Willow both looked down at Cordelia's rather witchy attire.

"Different?"

"No, you look... good." Willow finished as she sat beside Cordelia. "How'd you get ... here?"

"In Diagon Alley?" Cordelia pointed around her. Willow nodded. "Er..."

Cordelia thought about telling Willow the entire story right then and right there. Though, that made for a lot of talking, which Cordelia wasn't in the mood for. For once...

"Been here for a few months," Cordelia smiled and looked down at her shoes, "I thought a change of scenery would do me."

__

Wait, Cordelia thought. _What IS Willow doing here? Different world thing, and all._

"Oh," Willow interrupted Cordelia's thoughts. "I touched a glowing rock."

"What?" Cordelia's eyes shot at Willow. "All hail the mighty queen of all things random."

Willow laughed. "I mean, that's how _I_ got here... see... I was in France with Buffy and Xander, then next thing I know, I touch a rock, and POOF." Willow's hands flared up with such gusto that Cordelia jumped a little.

"Poof, eh?" Cordelia noted.

"Yeah... then I met this guy... then I met these other two guys, twins... then I talked with this other guy... okay, so he was a painting... but... what?"

Cordelia blinked, "What?"

"That look," Willow pointed at Cordelia.

"I had a look?"

"Yeah, it was weird," Willow pursed her lips together.

"Sorry," Cordelia shrugged. "I think when you said 'twins' I had a short fantasy..."

"Yeah, that's when the look started," Willow nodded and smiled.

"Oh," Cordelia motioned towards Willow, "Go on."

"The painting guy actually told me to head on over to Diagon Alley, by Floo."

Interestingly enough, Cordelia happened to know exactly what Floo was. She felt rather priveledged. And that's when she noticed that Willow did have a bit of soot on her chin...

"The painting guy?" Cordelia tried to get back in on the story.

"Yeah, he-"

"Cordelia!"

Cordelia looked up. Harry walked briskly to where she was sitting and let out a sigh.

"I am so sorry," Harry apologized, still breathing heavily. "Emergency thing..."

Cordelia looked at the clock tower, "You're only thirty minutes late." As soon as she had said it she wished she could take it back. It had sounded rather harsh, and he did look like he'd just been through hell.

x x x x x

"Eugh!"

"You big baby!"

"You'd make that sound too, if you'd've just stepped in... that..."

"Xander!"

Buffy had found Xander sitting Indian-style, waiting on her after he had fell through the hole in the street. She knew he was okay when he spat up another rock and said a few incoherent curses.

"Sorry," Xander coughed a little. "Look! No rocks!"

Buffy shook her head, "Looks like we won't need that potion stuff after all."

"Yeah, no thanks to the Evil Overlord of Grease," Xander's nose flared. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he did that to us on purpose."

"Probably," Buffy agreed.

Xander hacked another cough, and cursed when a small pebble flew from his mouth. "Damn!"

The two turned down another passage in the unending array of tunnels.

"Think we've made it to Timbuktu, yet?" Xander mumbled.

"Xander," Buffy pulled Xander ahead. "Look!"

"What?"

"A ladder!"

"Oh, great, let's walk underneath it and increase our ever wonderful luck." Xander adjusted his eye-patch and continued on. "Don't happen to have a mirror I can break, or some salt to spill, do you?"

"Xander, do you want me to hit you?"

"If it'll help us find a way out of here quicker... hey... I'm all game."

Buffy checked to see if the ladder was sturdy, "Come on."

"Right behind ya, Buff."

Buffy saw that the ladder lead up to a sewer covering. She pushed up on the covering and slid it out of place. Light filtered onto the two of them, as Buffy climbed out, then helped Xander. The two just sat beside the opening for a moment, to take in their surroundings. Before they could actually digest what was going on, someone pointed at them.

"Intruders!"

x x x x x

"Sorry, there was a problem over at Town Hall." Harry, then realized where his manners had been, he held his hand out to Willow. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Harry."

"Willow." Willow took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"Like-wise." Harry then sat down, beside Cordelia, "Still want that ice cream?"

"Nah, too fattening anyway." Cordelia muttered. "Willow might want some though."

"Oh, no, I just ate." Willow shook her head and stood up. "I have to go, anyway."

"Why?" Cordelia stood up and grabbed Willow's hand. "You don't have to leave."

"I have to keep looking for Buffy and Xander." Willow shook loose her hand.

"They're here too?" Cordelia's eyes widened.

"I don't know, but I guess the rocks got them too."

Harry suddenly stood up. "Who did you say you were looking for?"

"My friends, Buffy and Xan-"

"Friends?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, why-"

"Buffy and Xander?"

"Okay, Sherlock, enough with the instigation," Cordelia stepped up beside Willow. "They're my friends too."

"I think you two need to see something."

x x x x x

"I hate it here," Xander nodded his head. "Don't you?"

"Yep." Buffy licked her lips. For once she wasn't chained up or locked up, however she was in a new predicament with an enchanted circle. Step pass the line, go up in smoke.

Xander had given a funeral for a few beetles who had been stupid enough to pass the line. Of course, there was nothing left of them, so there had been a few words said...

__

Bob the Beetle. He was a good beetle, best ever, really. Always munched at his greens, laughed in the face of danger, and grossed out a few girls. The epitome of beetleness.

Xander had tried to get Buffy to say something in mourning...

__

At least he didn't get squashed.

Xander had stopped doing beetle funerals after that.

"Yes, sir!"

Buffy looked up, a wizard appeared beyond the circle and looked at the both of them. He held up a long piece of parchment and began to read.

"In addition to your crimes of breaking and entering. You are also charged with intent to kill, use of muggle explosives threat, and of using memory charms on each other, then destroying your own wands, before we could question you on your plans with Dolohov." He paused, took in a breath and continued. "You are also charged with creating chaos, lying to the Council, and you are charged with the most serious crime of being a member of the Death Eaters or of the Letum Essum. As such, the Council of Diagon Alley has seen fit to have a public execution as a warning to all Death Eaters and Letum Essum everywhere." He rolled up the parchment and looked at them, winking. "Have a nice day!"

There was at least a good minute of silence before either Buffy or Xander spoke.

"Buff?"

"Yeah?"

"Did he just say 'public execution?'"

"Yeah."

"So, that means we're going to die?"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean _YEAH_?"

"Just what it means."

"Don't say 'yeah' anymore! We're going to die!" Xander took Buffy by the shoulders and shook her. "Don't you realize that!?"

"Yep."

"AGH!"

x x x x x

"Today we hold the third of probably many public executions..."

"What?" Willow's eyes widened.

"Public executions?" Cordelia grabbed Harry's arm. "What do you mean?"

"They're going to hang two Letum Essum members..." Harry gulped, the look on Cordelia's face was rather intense.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Cordelia hadn't spoken to anyone. She almost hated it that she knew what the words meant... damn that education from above. Non-magical followers of Dolohov... Letum Essum... squibs and muggles alike were following the dark wizard into his world of lies. "Two innocent people are about to be killed!"

x x x x x

"Well, Buff, it's been real nice." Xander nodded his head as they wrapped the noose around it.

"Shut up, fool!"

"Yeah," Buffy sighed. "I mean, yes, it's been nice."

"Close that 'ole in yo' face!"

"Glad I'm being hung with you though..." Xander coughed slightly as the noose tightened.

"Are ye deaf?"

"Never died with someone before, glad I'm with you... too." Buffy had completely decided that it was better to go on ahead and die. There were two things that she had never been able to do right... have a relationship and die. At least she'd finally die good enough to not be brought back this time... hopefully.

"Stop yer talkin' befo' I chawp orf ya lips!"

"Well," Xander started.

"Stop!"

Xander and Buffy both began to search through the crowd; they saw a black head of hair pushing its way through the crowd.

"STOP!"

"Whats'a meanin' fo' all this?" The executioner yanked off his black mask and was also looking out in the crowd.

Buffy watched as a young man leapt onto the stage, his wand ready, she then looked out into the crowd, and was so very glad that she did.

"WILL!"

"Buffy!" Willow climbed up behind the man, and ran to Buffy. "I've been looking _everywhere_ for you."

"Hey!" Xander hacked. "What about me?"

"You're just a bonus find," Willow winked at Xander.

"So, we're saved?" Xander cricked his neck, trying to get the noose in a comfortable position. No luck there.

"The prisoners are not members of the Letum Essum!" The dark-haired man announced to the crowd.

Xander shook his head, "Yet, he still calls us 'prisoners' and expects them to believe the story."

"Oh, they'll listen to him," Willow said confidantly.

"Riiiiight... OOF!"

Xander and Buffy were now both now on the solid ground. Their hands were undone and the nooses loosened from their neck.

Xander yanked his off and then looked up and the gallows behind him. He gulped slightly and then ran to Willow and Buffy.

"Oh, thank you so much, Will!" Buffy cried.

"Oh, don't thank me." Willow stepped back and nodded her head over to the side. Buffy and Xander followed her lead and saw a very familiar face.

"Oh, hey, Cordelia!" Xander went to hug Cordelia and then suddenly pulled back, he squinted his eyes and studied her closely. "Er... wow."

"Cordy?" Buffy blinked. "Wow."

"Yeah," Cordelia looked down at her robes. "Nice to see you guys too."

x _chapter's end _x

Please read and review. Muahahaha!!

Just look past Buffy not trying to break free. Remember that these wizards have really strong manacles and ropes... enhanced magically... and that she kind of gave up hope too. I mean, she had been through A LOT! :)

Roar at the evilness that was the beginning of this chapter. It really annoyed me to no end... but I think this version (of like 50 that I wrote) is the best. As long as the readers enjoyed it though, that's all I can hope for. Well, I'll leave you at that! And, I wanted to get this chapter up before my power goes out with all the ice and snow and sleet and stuff. Last time my power went out, it was out for 7 days during the ice and snow. I DEFINITEY don't want that to happen again.

Look forward to Ch. 12 entitled:

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The Mirror Myth

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Harry fills in everybody on what the Death Eaters are up to.


	12. The Mirror Myth

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: Here it is... straight from the presses!

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Chapter 12

The Mirror Myth

Xander was in complete shock. Touchy-feely statues, evil Grease Lords, green fireplaces, and a near scrape with the hangman's play toy. Xander had been through a lot... demonic activity back in Sunnydale, losing an eye, etc... and he thought that nothing else would ever shock him. As usual, he was wrong.

"Oh, my GOD!" Xander placed his hand on his forehead, adjusting the eye patch strap. "I don't know what's going on, but I really want to go back home where all the vampires and demons and mummies want to make me their bitch."

"I'm sorry," Harry shook his head as he pushed a glass of water towards Xander. "The Council had a tip that either a Death Eater or a Letum Essum would try to attack their ... meeting."

"They only did what they did to protect themselves," Buffy sighed. "Right?"

"In a way," Harry smiled ever so slightly. "They're bent on proclaiming that they're more powerful than Dolohov. The Council of Diagon Alley is the only group that kills for spectacle... other than Dolohov."

A silence followed, where everybody sat around a large table, and took in all that had just happened. After the near hanging, Harry had taken them all to a place called The Leaky Cauldron. As soon as they walked in; they were automatically hauled into a room, concealed by a large curtain. Upon entering the room, the candles had flickered and lighted themselves. It was at that moment, when Xander had been the first to speak since everything had happened.

"You're really going to have to explain what all this stuff is;" Buffy took a seat at the table, beside Harry.

"Stuff?"

"Council, Dolohov, Death Eaters, Letum Essum, the entire ordeal..." Cordelia spoke up. "They don't know about any of that."

"How do you?" Xander locked eyes with Cordelia.

"She's been here for a while;" Willow came to Cordelia's defense. "She should know."

"Oh," Xander went back to his water.

"I don't think I can reveal some information," Harry started.

"Harry, you can trust us." Cordelia tapped her hands on the table. "Buffy is a Slayer from another w-er... well, she's a Slayer."

"Slayer?" Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"I rid the world of demons and vampires and... anything else that wants to destroy the world." Buffy nodded her head.

Harry gave Buffy an odd look. "Never heard of a vampire trying to destroy the world."

"Well, there are those out there," Buffy smiled, "I stop them before they can actually destroy it."

"She's died twice," Xander perked.

Harry again gave Buffy an odd look. "Twice?" He shook his head. "That's impossible."

"No, there's magic that can bring people back to life," Willow squinted her eyes. "I've even used it."

Harry shook his head, "There's no such magic... believe me... if I knew about it... I would have used it long ago."

Cordelia instantly realized that the two worlds were about to collide. She didn't know how to stop the oncoming debate, but she planned on steering away from the topic.

After all, Buffy, Xander, and Willow were not supposed to be in this world. Something definitely screwy was going on... she only hoped that things would be sorted out sooner than later.

"Perhaps there is old magic that you never had a chance to find, Harry," Cordelia butted in. "Besides... we all can help... like I said... Buffy's very capable of fighting, Willow's a witch-"

"Goddess."

"Goddess," Cordelia corrected herself. She then looked at Willow. "Really?"

"Well, sort of." Willow blushed.

"Awesome," Cordelia winked at Willow. "And Xander he's... well... he's... I know he's good for something."

"I resent that remark!" Xander perked up. "I'll have you know I've bested many a monster in my time." He pointed to his eye. "Case, in point."

"Xander's a godsend;" Buffy patted Xander on the back.

"Aw, Buff," Xander shrugged his shoulders, obviously pleased with the remark.

Cordelia laughed out loud then realized that everyone was staring at her.

"You all are mad." Harry shook his head and stood up.

"No!" Cordelia stood up quickly and stepped in front of Harry before he could walk out of the room. "Don't leave... whatever it is... we _can_ help."

"Yeah," Buffy stood up and took her place beside Cordelia. "We're all fighters. Even if we're not ... Letum Essum ... or whatever."

Harry eyed them all and then took his seat. "I can't reveal everything, because you're not Aurors."

"HARRY POTTER!"

Everyone in the room faced the entrance. A woman with bushy hair stood at the curtains, her arms crossed and an angered expression across her face.

"What do you think you are doing?" She crossed over to him and then gazed at the rest of the group. "You interrupt an execution, call the Council a bunch of loons, and then bring the supposed Letum Essum _here_? Have you gone completely and utterly mental?"

"You don't understand, I think they can-"

"You think they can help?" She shook her head. "You know the laws just as well as I do."

"Do you think I care anything about those laws?" Harry faced the group. "I'm sorry, guys," he sighed and shook his head. "I'll be right back."

Harry took the woman by the arm and led her outside.

"I think that's his wife." Xander said.

"That, or his boss." Willow agreed.

"She seems like a bucket of fun." Buffy nodded. "So, Cordy, while he's gone... how about you fill us in."

"What?" Cordelia was shocked. "Er... how much do you want to be filled in on?"

"As much as you can."

x x x x x

"So the Letum Essum are the non-magical folk following Dolohov?" Xander said, as he tried to clear the few inconsistencies still traveling in his brain.

"Yeah," Cordelia nodded. "They aren't as powerful as the Death Eaters, but they are used mostly for suicide missions. Even though they're on his side, Dolohov still believes them impure and unfit for his social ladder."

"Modern day Hitler." Willow noted.

"A Hitler with a wand." Xander corrected. "Maybe Dolohov will shoot himself in the head, too."

"Guns are a muggle thing." Cordelia waved her hand in the air.

"Do you think guns would still do him in?" Buffy asked.

"I doubt it... the magical aura and stuff... he's supposed to be a really powerful wizard." Cordelia added.

"Some say he's more powerful than Voldemort," Harry's voice interrupted the conversation.

"Really?" Cordelia whirled around. "How's that work?"

"Dolohov, unlike Voldemort, is able to recruit even those that he regards as an animal." Harry sat down. "It's insane."

"Many believe Dolohov's more powerful because of that," the woman sat down at another chair. "I don't believe that silly nonsense. He's just better at public speaking and charming minds, is all."

"This is Hermione," Harry stated, "Another Auror."

"Allowing us to actually be in on it now, are ya?" Xander smiled.

"Even without my consent, Harry would still bring you all in on it," she said. "I'm here to make sure he doesn't tell you all more than what you need to know."

"She sure is grumpy, isn't she?" Xander whispered to Willow.

"Probably PMS." Willow nodded her head as she whispered back.

"My thoughts exactly." Xander agreed.

"I think Cordelia filled you all in," Harry winked at Cordelia. "I thank you for that."

"No _problemo_," Cordelia muttered.

After a few seconds of silence, Harry finally spoke: "Dolohov is trying to rule the world." Harry looked around the table, waiting for the response.

"Is that all?" Buffy was surprised. "He's just like every other bad guy, isn't he?"

"He's slightly more complicated..." Harry looked over to Hermione, who seemed to be okay with how things were going. "He wants to take over the world, so that he can change it completely."

"One in a million, this Dolohov dude," Xander laughed. "God, does Dolohov even watch movies?"

"Dolohov doesn't do anything remotely muggle related." Harry replied.

"You're not taking this serious." Hermione spoke up. "He has an army beyond comprehension. An army that we know very little about... but we know that every day it grows and that very soon he's going to take that army and kill everyone who tries to go against him."

"Can I tell them about the mirror?" Harry asked Hermione. Hermione nodded.

"There's a story about a mirror that Rowena Ravenclaw made for only Ravenclaw students. The mirror was said to have been a portal to other worlds and also had the power to change certain things about this world. Very few Ravenclaw students ever actually used it, and they were of Rowena's own choosing. One day, a student was lost in the mirror and never returned. Rowena hid the mirror, because she never wanted to lose another student. It hasn't been seen since." Harry finished. "Legend has it that she broke it, and hid each piece in different parts of the world."

"We believe that Dolohov already has a few pieces of the mirror." Hermione stated. "If he finds all the pieces... he'll use it to change the world."

"What are we supposed to do?" Buffy asked.

"Stay at Hogwarts and help protect the borders there." Harry nodded his head. "There are a few Aurors already stationed there, but after a certain border incursion..."

Buffy tried to look away from Harry's gaze.

"... We believe that we need more help there."

"But, I'm sure that after a while, you'll be reinstated elsewhere, if we need you." Hermione smiled.

"Oh, hell, what's a bit more bad luck?" Xander shrugged. "I'm all for it."

x x x x x

After everyone had left the room, Harry and Hermione lingered a little longer, before following everyone outside.

"You didn't tell them where the last piece of Rowena's Mirror was." Hermione took out her wand and waved away the table and chairs.

"I didn't think that they should know that we only have one more piece before world destruction." Harry stated calmly.

The two best friends left the now empty room, ready to take their new recruits to Hogwarts.

x _chapter's end _x

Please read and review. I always love to know what you think. And no, the mirror is not the Mirror of Erised. Please, do you think I'm that slow?

OMG - is that PLOT! Do we have a slight bit of STORY in this chapter? OMG! See... look at the title... then think about a mirror... then look at the title and think about the mirror... muahahahaha! Unless anyone is a mind reader, thoust shalt never know until thy readst the very endst!

So - I have a Thank You section in this chapter. I love my reviewers, what can I say?

Look forward to Ch. 13 entitled:

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Blood on the Moon

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An old wizard folk tale and a discovery go hand-in-hand.

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Thank You's:

SnowySilver - I love every review that you leave. In fact, a lot of times when I update, I can't wait to see what kind of review you will leave! I positively ENJOY your reviews to no end. Sometimes I just go back to read what you had to say... LOL. I am so glad that you take the time to leave those nice long reviews. Really means something to me. :) I LURRV YOU! I hope you continue to stay with TLG and be all WOOHOO until the last word is typed... because... I'd miss you too much if you ever stopped reading! ((_gushes more_)) See how you're the first Thank You? LOL - made sure that you'd see it!

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Dr. P.G. Thirteen - Doctah, doctah... give me the news... I GOTTA... bad case of lovin' you! o.O Okay, so I'm a weirdo who likes weird songs. But, thanks for reviewing!

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Mama T :) Thanks for reviewing. You like the titles? The titles of the chapters? I have such a hard time coming up with them... but I'm glad you like them!

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twisssstedCHeeesssse - Buffy/Remus? Hmm... let's just say that everything's already planned. :)

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Anne-Marie

Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's - I think you're quite lovely, yourself! Thank you for staying with the story and leaving all those wonderful reviews! Ooohhh... Clive Owen... I loff heem! However, I'm on a Gerard Butler fix at the moment... so I'll let you have the man-candy that is Clive ... ((_dies from a Gerry overdose_)) Ha - what can I say - I'm on _Gerroin_ and _Grack_. o.O If you follow me, then I **adore** you.

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CindaEdna

unforgiven mistress

General Mac

Darklight - So verrah verrah wonderful of you to review my story:)

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superfan

SilverPunk with an attitude

monkeybum21 - Thanks for the reviews:)

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monkey - Are you the same as monkeybum21 and just shortened your name? If not - sorry and thanks for reviewing. If you are - don't confuse me! My brain's like... well... not all here.

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TheStatue

texaswookie

spikesanguination

MaryAnn Granger - I know - I love Cordy too. I always hated the writers of Angel for sending her off into oblivion. She was my favorite character... oh, well... can't always be happy...

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Marz1

Morena Evensong - I love it that you seem to really like my little ditty of a story. I always like reading what you have to say about what goes on in a chapter... maybe because it's like going into a mindset of a reader... it's... FUN! Thanks for the reviews!

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Slinky-and-the-BloodyWands - Have I told you that I like your name? It's just so superspiffy cool, and I like your reviews too:) Always fun to know what goes on in the reader's head...

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zayra

Alaula-Star - Thanks for your reviews. They keep me... going and going and going and going... :)

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Susan

Zantac the Barbarian - Borderline bondage? HAHAHAHA! I never even thought about it when I was writing. LOL. Perhaps I do... but you must have a thing for bondage too... especially if you noticed it before _moi_. Tsk, tsk, tsk. :) Thanks for your reviews!

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Papa Wheelie

biteme

gaul1

Brutal2003

veri-interesterin-speciesamin - Dude, your name is VERRAH VERRAH INTERESTING! Sorry that I'm so mean... ;) I posted again, though I hope you won't think I'm too mean since it's only one chapter. LOL

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smee

CharmingStar


	13. Blood on the Moon

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 13

Blood on the Moon

x x x x x

"Holy crap!"

"I know," Harry nodded as Xander flung himself on his new bed.

"No, I mean, holy crap!"

Xander pinched his arm to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. When the pinching wasn't working, he turned to Buffy for help; "Pinch me." And when she did, he wished he hadn't asked for her help.

"Baby," Buffy muttered.

Xander had been shown to a new room, which was much more medieval than the one he shared with Buffy. He had a black iron canopy bed, a few armor statues, and a very large fireplace to warm up with. The fact that Xander was excited was really not all that hard to spot.

"This is a great!" Xander exclaimed, even though his arm was still throbbing.

"You're now in the East Wing of the castle," Harry said.

"And that means..." Xander shrugged his shoulders.

"Xander, if you take the corridor to your left," Harry placed a hand on Xander's shoulder, "below the very last picture on your right is a yellow stone. If you press that stone, it will take you to the Hufflepuff Common Room, if you ever need to be there to protect the Hufflepuff's."

"Oh, right," Xander grabbed a pillow. "Spiffy."

Harry continued to show everyone his or her rooms. Buffy still got to keep her old room, though it had been refurnished and had a slightly more homey look to it. She was in the North Wing, and she was appointed to the Gryffindors. Cordelia's room (which she noticed had all of her things in it - she thanked Gabriel for that) was actually located inside the Ravenclaw Girl's Dormitory. Harry had made sure that she did, however, have her own room. And, Willow was taken down to the dungeons (in the South Wing) to look after the Slytherins.

"Harry;" Willow caught Harry's eyes.

"Yeah?"

"What's with the points?" Willow nodded her head, to show that she did indeed know what he was doing. Herself, Buffy, Xander, and Cordelia were spread out into the four separate corners of the castle. "Trying to keep something out of the diamond?"

"Just a protection spell. You're all at the Four Corners," Harry smiled. "Hermione planned it all out."

"Oh," Willow nodded her head. "She did a great job at the four-cornered diamond, then. I can actually feel it now that we're all in our positions."

"I'll let her know she has a fan," Harry smiled, thankful that at least one of the new recruits knew something about what they were doing. "I'm really glad you all are here. Nothing stands a chance with you all around."

Harry left Willow to tell McGonagall that they were positioned. While he was on his way to the Headmistress's office, it hit him.

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She could feel_ the magic? Willow can feel the magic..._

x x x x x

Buffy opened her eyes. After a very restful night's sleep, she felt like she could do anything. She lifted her head up, and that's when the pain came flooding back. She realized that she still had some bruises. Some were healed, but a few were still throbbing. Not knowing what to do, she slid out of bed, taking careful attention of the bruise on her leg, and decided that she needed to go see Madame Pomfrey. If she wasn't healing quickly, then perhaps something else was really wrong with her.

Buffy put on one of the pretty scarlet cloaks she had been given by one of the Gryffindor prefects and headed to the hospital wing. As she climbed the stairs, she heard the sound of movement at the landing above her.

Severus Snape stood there in all of his greasy glory. In fact, if she hadn't have known better, she could have swore that his cloak was billowing from an unknown breeze.

"Miss Summers," he said was a slightly twisted smile.

"Sevvy-Sev."

"I see that you and Mr. Harris made it back to Hogwarts safely." His crooked nose flared as he said '_Mr. Harris_' and Buffy wanted to beat the ever-loving crap out of him.

"Yeah," Buffy cocked her head to one side as she finally came to where he was standing.

"I had hoped that the last time we met that it would have been the very _last_ time." Snape crossed his arms and sneered at her even more so than ever.

"Yeah," Buffy said again as she figured he had more to say.

"It really is too bad that the Council didn't finish the hanging." Snape's eyes flared.

Buffy gave him a nice fake smile, "Okay, I get it. You're an evil bastard." Buffy said with a shrug. "But, I have ridded this world of better bad-asses than you. So, when you: A, grow up; B, get a new look; C, get off this high pedestal you've placed yourself upon and D, wash your hair... you be sure to find me, because then you'll be worth my time to actually scrape off my shoe. You're too cliché for me right now, pal."

With that, Buffy strode right past the, now silent, wizard and into the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey gave Buffy a teaspoon of blueberry flavored syrup (_Blueberry Bruise-Fusion_ was on the bottle) and made her sit down for a moment. After ten minutes, Buffy saw the blue and purple colored bruises were slowly fading.

"You're fit and ready to go, dear," she said. "Just make sure you take better care of yourself!"

x x x x x

"Cordy!"

Cordelia jumped out of her seat and faced the door. "What!"

"Look!" Willow ran over the Cordelia and handed her a note. "Lunch!"

Cordelia read the piece of paper that Willow had shoved into her hands.

__

The Faculty of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is pleased to welcome you to Hogwarts Castle.

We would like to formally welcome you to the family with a small luncheon at 2:00 PM on the 5th of October. Please dress in your best (wizard wear, of course) and make sure that you come ready to eat and meet the faces of the Hogwarts' faculty!

See you soon

M. McGonagall and the rest of the faculty.

"We get to have lunch with all of the teachers here!" Willow practically shouted.

"I... know..." Cordelia nodded her head. "That's kinda what faculty means."

"I mean... there all wizards!" Willow shook Cordelia by the shoulders. "To have all of these people be magically inclined, and me not having to hold back about my magic! It's going to be great! I CANNOT WAIT!"

Cordelia's eyes widened as Willow threw her arms around Cordelia. She then pulled herself away about a minute later.

"Sorry, I'm-"

"Dude, I look like a girl."

Cordelia looked up. Xander had on some black robes, but his face meant that he wasn't all too pleased about it.

"No... you don't... r-really." Willow stammered.

"See!" Xander flung himself on Cordelia's bed. "I'm so not liking being a wizard right now."

"You're not a wizard." Cordelia reminded him.

"Well, I'm so not liking playing wizard dress-up then." Xander pouted.

"I LOVE THESE CLOTHES!" Buffy burst into Cordelia's room with the happiest smile on her face. "Oh, my God! Will - that green - gah - you look so pretty! And Cordy! Purple was always your color..."

Willow, Xander, and Cordelia all stared at Buffy like she had five heads.

"What?" Buffy smiled. "Can't a girl be happy about going to lunch?"

"Well, if you all actually call this a lunch. I see it as more of us being thrown to the wolves... I mean... all them with wands and us... well... kind of wand-less." Xander stood up.

"Xander - those robes!" Buffy smiled at him. "Very manly."

Xander look down and then kind of stuck out his chest. "I thought so too..."

Willow and Cordelia rolled their eyes.

"Xander, don't worry." Cordelia reminded him as she took out her wand. "We're not all powerless on this side of the force."

x x x x x

__

Why did I have to come? Cordelia asked herself. She was really bored. Considering that everything that anybody had said was not new in the least to her. Well, it was new for like half a second, and then she realized that she already knew what everything they were talking about meant. It was almost as if she had gone to Hogwarts herself.

"So, you're one of _them_, are you?"

"What?" Cordelia looked up. A very tall, greasy-haired wizard sat down beside her.

"One of them," he motioned towards Buffy and Xander, who were talking to the tiny Professor Flitwick.

"They're my friends, if that's what you mean," Cordelia nodded.

"You just seem more-"

"Adjusted?"

"No, you're-"

"Normal?"

"No - if you please-"

"Special?"

"Intelligent was the word I was going to say," he smiled at her. Cordelia didn't like his smile all that much, but considering that when he didn't smile it looked as if he tasted something sour, she figured that she liked him better smiling. "Severus Snape."

"Cordelia Chase." Cordelia held out her hand and Snape gave it a quick shake.

"Well, Miss Chase, what-"

"Oh, no," Cordelia shook her head and placed her drink on the table in front of her. "I don't do that."

"What?"

"Cordelia is my name, use it." Cordelia nodded curtly. "No being formal and calling me by my last name." Cordelia filled her cup up with a little more pumpkin juice. "God, all you Brits are the same-eugh!"

"Oh, Cordelia, I'm sorry!"

Cordelia had bumped right into Remus Lupin, whom she had met earlier, and had spilled her pumpkin juice on the floor. Snape had done some sort of charm to clean the mess and then offered to refill Cordelia's glass.

"I really am sorry."

"It's okay, really!" Cordelia smiled and looked up to find that Buffy had moved on from Flitwick to Lupin. Buffy rolled her eyes at Cordelia and then turned her attention back to Remus. Cordelia then rolled her eyes in response.

"You _do_ know what he is, don't you?" Snape's voice hissed into Cordelia's ear.

Cordelia turned to him and shook her head. "Uh... no."

"Do you know of any stories that surround a full moon?"

"He's a moon?" Cordelia asked stupidly. She could tell that he obviously thought that he had been wrong about the intelligent bit.

"No, he's..." Snape stopped and looked around. "I think you'll find out soon enough, being that you're a part of the faculty."

"What?"

"You heard me," he sneered slightly.

"Why bring up something and then not tell me what it was that you were bringing up?" Cordelia's eye twitched as she began to get a little riled. "That's rude!"

"Fine," he held up his hands. "The next full moon is going to reveal a sign to you. It's old witch lore, but... you've heard of blood on the moon, right?"

"Yes... it means that danger approaches."

"Yes." He smiled at her. "It'll be a surprise what kind of danger the full moon brings."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Cordelia asked bewildered.

"The next full moon will have a dark red ring around it."

Cordelia gawked at Snape, her mouth slightly open. He was the most random person she had ever met before in her entire life.

"How do you know?"

"I'm not just a potion's professor, Cordelia." He looked up at the time and then excused himself. "I have a class in ten minutes; perhaps we will continue our discussion later."

"Yeah," Cordelia nodded. As soon as he was out of earshot, she mumbled to herself. "Weirdo."

"Cordelia?"

Cordelia shook her head and turned around to see Remus Lupin. "Oh, hi!"

"Hello," he smiled, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Harry asked me to give you this." He held out a small piece of parchment. "He said it was for you only."

"Thanks," Cordelia reached out to grab the paper and as soon as she made contact with Remus's hand she felt the light grow around her and knew exactly what was coming...

__

Cordelia's eyes glanced up as she saw the full moon, outlined in dark red. She then heard a horrific howl and noticed a man being changed into a wolf. A werewolf. The vision drew her in closer to the transformation and all that Cordelia could see were the man's eyes. The pain behind the eyes was intense during the transformation, and Cordelia wished that she could look away. Finally, the werewolf glanced behind Cordelia and began to run towards whatever it was that was behind her. As soon as Cordelia turned around, a black figure engulfed her... and every happy memory faded into darkness... she couldn't see but she could feel the life slowly being sucked out of her.

Cordelia's eyes fluttered, as she tried to get used to the normal light. She blinked a few times to get rid of the glaze. She sat up slowly and when her eyes finally cleared she opened them slowly. The first pair of eyes that she locked onto, were none other than those of the werewolf.

Remus Lupin.

Cordelia tensed quickly, but tried to keep her fear at bay. Remus Lupin was a werewolf... that's what Snape had thought she had already known. She saw the concern in his eyes and tried to shake the vision out of her head.

It wasn't going anywhere.

x x x x x

Gabriel sighed when he realized that Cordelia was getting another vision. He, too, could see the visions, and all he knew was that he had to let Cordelia know that Lupin was actually a good guy.

__

HOOT HOOT

"Ah, Hedwig!" The white owl landed on his shoulder and dropped a gold piece of parchment in Gabriel's hands. The note was obviously from God.

****

Dearest Gabriel,  
Again, I thank you for watching over the proceedings down on the Magical World. I truly appreciate everything that you do. Ruth and Mary have constantly been nagging me to get you back up here to play some more hockey. I think you are their favorite player, Gabriel.

To business... Dolohov is trying to repiece Rowena's Mirror back together. The mirror can do horrible things, and we cannot let him find the last piece.

__

I know all about this, Gabriel thought.

****

I know that you know all of this, but Harry did not mention everything. In fact, if you knew everything, I'd be worried, and might have to vacate my spot as Head Honcho. Anyway, the mirror was never supposed to be put back together. See, Gabriel, I helped Rowena hide the mirror pieces. When she lost her best student to the mirror, she vowed to never let another use it. See, the student walked through the mirror and into Hell. And when something that horrific is in any world, I have to do my godly duty. We hid the pieces in the four different corners of the universe; in the two worlds, heaven, and in hell. When Satan fell from grace, he made sure that he found all of the pieces before he left heaven. Then, when he claimed hell as his own, he had all of his henchman find the pieces in hell. Rowena and myself placed a few mirror pieces in the Non-Magical World, and of course, some in the Magical World.  
Now, Gabriel, something that you do not know, is that the last piece of the mirror is located at Hogwarts.

__

It is?

****

It is.

__

Where?

****

I won't say where it is, for fear of this letter being intercepted.

__

I understand.

****

I knew you would understand, but I do need to entrust you with another bit of information. Cordelia's friends should not be in the Magical World. In fact, I believe that their appearance into the Magical World somehow helped bring the mirror pieces from the Non-Magical World into the Magical World for Dolohov's use.

__

I bet Satan is behind all of this.

****

Yes, I believe that Dolohov is a missionary of Satan. Now, Gabriel, I need you to do a favor for me. I have to meet with the Devil's Advocate in about an hour's time. He wants to talk about giving the worlds over to Satan. I don't know why every year we have this same meeting, but it's happening again. You would think the old boy would have given up by now. Oh, well...

__

What must I do?

****

Oh, yes, the favor. Gabriel, I need you to take the Slayer's powers away from her. I never planned to have a Slayer in the Magical World. In fact, her powers are not as strong as they once were, because of all the magical elements that go against the Slayer's own magical source. It's complicated, but ask Einstein if you have any questions on the philosophy and physics of the magic. He helped me complete the formulas and he probably knows better to explain it than I do. Anyway... if Satan or Dolohov were to get their hands (or hooves) on Buffy...

__

Satan could control her...

****

Exactly. And we don't want that to happen, do we?

__

No! It could mean disaster.

****

Also, would you give Xander sight in both of his eyes; he'll need both of his eyes before this is all over and done with. And, give Willow just a slight bit more courage. If anyone needs to be prepared, it's her.

__

Will do.

****

Oh, and before I forget. Even though I know that you will make sure that Cordelia won't be alarmed by Remus's nature... I just wanted to remind you. He is nothing but good; and he deserves her respect in every way.

__

I agree.

****

Thank you again, Gabriel. I'll make sure to tell David to give you a raise when I get back from the meeting.

God Blesses You.  
God  
AKA - Jesus  
AKA - The Holy Spirit

Gabriel stared at how God signed the letter. _He must have had some of those tiny tarts. They're full of sugar._

****

PS...  
No, I haven't had any sugar today. Ruth said that I was too hyper today.

Hedwig nipped at Gabriel's finger and flew away. Gabriel watched as she flew into the clouds, and as he watched, he remembered the day when God gave him the magnificent owl.

x _chapter's end _x

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After Thoughts: Sorry that this took a while. Been a rough week - lots of family problems.

Please read and review!

Hope the chapter fed some FF((dot))net hunger. And a lot of reviewers are clamoring for longer chapters. LOL. I'm not really big on having huge gi-normous chapters. If I put more into the chapters, then you'd probably all go completely mental from being so bored. But, I did try and make this longer... :)

Look forward to Ch. 14 entitled:

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Decay of Death

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Hogwarts gets some visitors. These visitors aren't looking for a cup of tea.

Thank You's:

Heck, I decided to have another one. Just 'cuz I LOVE you ALL! And, hey, who doesn't like to see their name, right? And I **had to have **a party for going over **_100_** reviews... ((_tear_)) So, yeah, thank you to the following people for reviewing Chapter Twelve.

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Slinky-and-the-BloodyWands - I don't mind you talking to me in the reviews. It's nice. :) LOL. I'm so glad you liked Hermione dropping in, I figured it was time to see more HP characters. Don't worry, more will start to pop in. The mirror idea is the _only_ good idea I've ever had for ANY of my fanfiction... lol... so I really appreciate the compliment.

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Mama T - Why thanks:) Hope this one was just as great, if not better than great!

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zayra - Well, I got nothing but praise for you for reviewing! ((_PRAISES_)) I really hate it that FF (dot) net took away my asterisks. Grrr...

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Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's - I do indeed _adore_ you now for forever and for always fellow overdose-ee (is that even the right way to do that?). I must so see Doctors Without Borders. He's such a phenomenal actor. I hope he gets the... er... well, I won't jinx him. :)  
I know chapter twelve was a short chapter and I'm trying to make them longer... lol. It's hard to break the short chapter habit. Thank you so much for your reviews!

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secretselphie-tilmitt - Bits 'n pieces, eh? How sweet! It loves you too! No review is ever weird or pointless... it means the world to me, I promise. Don't worry, we got past the slow parts of the story (you would indeed be surprised though at all the hints I threw out that kinda show you it never was really "slow" in the first place - muahahahaha), now things will only be moving fast. :) Thanks for reveiewing!

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General Mac - Happy to oblige! ;) ((_gives more_))

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veri-interesterin-speciesamin - I always have more on the way! And, none of my reviewers are strange. Just special. ;) Thanks for reviewing.

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Morena Evensong - A review can NEVER be too long. Never ever. I'm so glad you liked how the Scoobies reacted to Dolohov's dastardly plan. :) I had originally had them being really pensive, and then I was like, wait... they so are going to think that this a joke. So - voila! And without giving too much away... Cordelia, after being in heaven (and being blessed with enough of the Magical World's knowledge) knows that things are different in each world; please don't be confused. 'Tis all I'll say. Thanks for reviewing!

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SnowySilver - "LOOK AT ME! I'M A PLOT!" HAHAHAHA! Yes! There's a whole lot more hidden plot stuff... but it'll come out soon... like... well... soon. Whoa, I almost slipped... o.O Sorry 'bout computer restrictions... I forgive you. I was starting to worry there for a little while... but then I got the review e-mail and I totally **spazzed** out. Wooh - you got a BOLDED word in your 'thank you.' Ha!   
LOLSnape and The Lion King. OMG. You rock.  
Erm, answering Q's... no... there's nothing going on with Harry and Hermione. Just best buds, like always. It shocked me when I saw that question about him and Hermione, because I've got something wonderful planned for Harry at the end of this story. And, yeah, Cordy is a peacemaker (I kinda liked her being not so blunt during Angel), because she has that huge burden placed upon her shoulders, by God Himself. OOH! DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN! But, don't worry, you know she's going to be total Queen C Bitch when she wants to be. Muahahaha! Dolohov is an ebil, ebil, ebil man... er... wizard. I'm GLAD you don't like him. I don't like him myself. And I know I'm evil for my cliffhanger. OMG - you so should have read my Pirates of the Caribbean fic when I was writing it last year... lol... every chapter ended on a cliffhanger. You would have hated me.   
And don't you worry... Willow will SO be a key element. Much more so than _another character _that you may think will be a key element... because I AM AN **EBIL AUTHOR**! Muahahaha! Always remember that. ;) And, thanks for reviewing!

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Zantac the Barbarian - You're worried about that lost student... don't be. I'll go ahead and say that I have no plans for any cousin/sister/brother/long-lost-mama/baby's-daddy/etc to show up... none of those stories ever appealed to me, so I wanted to stay far away from any cliche's like that. I suggest you worry more about those mirror pieces... ;) Oh, I think there might be some more 'borderline bondage' coming up soon... just for you! Thanks, again!


	14. Decay of Death

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

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Through the Looking Glass

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Author's Note: Psst - I realized that I totally left out some bits of the Snape/Cordelia conversation. See, when I write, I write certain parts of the chapter before others. While I was writing that part... I remembered something that I had to add in the God/Gabriel letter convo. So, when I read back over it, I guess I just imagined that I already wrote what WASN'T there. Sheesh. Oh, well. 'Tis fixed now.

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Chapter 14

Decay of Death

x x x x x

Cordelia had been taken to the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey had bustled around her, asking her a million times if she was feeling okay. Finally, when Madame Pomfrey left her alone for two seconds, she remembered that she had a note that needed to be read.

__

Cordelia,  
I'm sorry that I did not deliver this to you in person. Earlier this morning, I was called to duty. That's why I gave Lupin my letter to give to you. I trust him more so than any other professor, as should you. And if you have any problems, go to him.  
I hope that Hogwarts is treating you well. Hopefully I'll be able to return to Hogwarts soon and give you a grand tour of the castle. I happen to know quite a few secrets about that place... like tickling pears and secret passageways.

Cordelia smiled. Tickling a pear sounded dirty...

__

I wanted to tell you that should anything happen where you had to protect Hogwarts... all you have to do is go to your room. Willow knows about this, but I think you both need to fill in Buffy and Xander. Oh, and since you've probably met Snape by now, he really is a greasy git, he wasn't just having... male PMS... as I'm sure you would say.  
Well, I hope to see you soon,

Harry Potter

Cordelia furrowed her brow. That was probably the weirdest note she had ever been given. It seemed like Harry wanted to say a lot more than what he really did say. She shrugged and turned on her stomach, ready for some sleep.

x x x x x

Gabriel noticed that Cordelia had fallen asleep. He decided that in dreams would be the best place to give Cordelia some more information.

He took in a deep breath and whispered into her ear. He told her to trust Lupin and to not let his lycanthropy bother her in the least.

"Take what Harry said in his letter to heart," Gabriel sighed as he turned away from the sleeping Cordelia. His eyes fell on the window. The lake outside looked calm and smoke was steadily rising from the gamekeeper's hut. It could only be described as the calm before the storm.

x x x x x

__

Three weeks later.

Cordelia sat staring at the vanity mirror in front of her. She hadn't had a vision in over three weeks, and she was still trying to piece together her last couple of visions. None of them were making sense in the least. She had tried to send Harry an owl to tell him that she was a Seer and that she had visions, but Lupin had told her that sending owls at the present time was not a very good idea, since Harry was in hiding. And even though she trusted Lupin, there was no way that she was going to tell him that she had a vision about him. Nor was she going to tell him that she was a Seer, considering the fact that she had found out that most Seers in the Magical World were crack-pot fools. And, vain as she was, there was no way that anybody was going to think she was one of those crack-pots.

Then her mind began to wonder to a different aspect. Perhaps Dolohov had figured out that she did have visions and that he somehow found a way to keep her from getting them. Of course, the idea was completely stupid, considering that only a very select few actually knew she had visions. And none of them were a part of the Magical World.

__

Sooner or later I'll have to tell Harry that I'm a Seer, she thought.

__

BANG BANG BANG

Cordelia shook the thoughts from her mind and ran to the door to open it. She figured it was Lupin, but when she saw the Black Billowing Cape of Doom she knew exactly who it was.

"Severus?"

"Hello, Cordelia," he stepped inside her room and Cordelia looked outside, to make sure that no Ravenclaw girls had seen the Slytherin Head of House walk into her room.

"How'd you get passed-"

"I'm a professor in this school," he said. "If I want to visit you I can. I couldn't care less if your room is located within the Ravenclaw Girls' Dormitory."

"Okay," Cordelia shrugged as she realized that a lot of her undergarments were out in the open for all to take a gander at. Her cheeks quickly turned a slight shade of pink. She hurriedly threw a blanket over the bras and turned to face Severus with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I didn't see them," he smirked, but then his gaze fell to the cup that he held in his hand. "I wanted to give you this. This morning, at breakfast, when you told me that you were having trouble sleeping, I made you this sleeping potion. It's not very strong; it's mostly just to help the body relax."

"Really?" Cordelia looked down at the steaming cup. "Thanks." She was slightly hesitant about drinking anything that he gave her, especially since she had read Harry's note. Though, Snape had taken a real liking to her, so Cordelia figured that he wasn't going to poison her. At least, not yet.

He held out the cup and Cordelia took it with a smile. She breathed in the scent.

"Ooh, peppermint flavored?"

"Your favorite, I understand?"

"Oh, yes!" Cordelia downed the potion in two seconds. "Oh, that was so good."

"I'm glad," he smiled and Cordelia was surprised again at how the smile actually made him look halfway decent. "Now, I'll leave you to bed."

"Cool, thanks." Cordelia sighed. "Severus?"

"Yes?"

"I really mean it too;" she felt her head starting to feel a little light. "Thanks. How many times can I get this potion?"

"Once a month." He smiled and then walked out of her room.

Cordelia felt a nice sensation wrap itself around her. She felt warm and her head began to feel heavy. Before she knew it, she was out like a light, dreaming of peppermints.

x x x x x

The next evening, Buffy made it a point to sit next to Remus. She had spent about an hour in front of the mirror, making sure that every strand of her hair looked perfect. Finally, when it was time for supper, she had bounced merrily down to make sure that she did, in fact, get her desired seating arrangement. When she saw him as soon as she entered the Great Hall, he was already in a deep conversation with Cordelia. Buffy let out a sigh.

"What is it with her?" She said to herself, causing a few Hufflepuff's to wonder about her sanity. Buffy hurried quickly up to the table and sat beside Remus and smiled at him.

"Hello," he smiled back at her. "How are you tonight?"

"I'm great now," Buffy commented and then realized how stupid she just sounded.

__

God, could I be anymore obvious? she asked herself.

On the contrary, Remus didn't notice as much as she did, so she continued on with the conversation.

"How are you?" Buffy took in his appearance; he looked extremely tired and really weak.

"A trifle under the weather, I must admit, but I'll be right as rain soon."

"Have you not been getting enough sleep?" Buffy placed a hand on his shoulder and felt the warmth of his skin underneath the thin shirt. She tried hard not to think too hard about heat and skin... because that would only lead her into trouble.

"It's not that easy," he laughed slightly and looked at her hand, which Buffy removed slowly. "I always seem to get sick at the same time each month; I've been this way for as long as I can remember."

"Oh?" Buffy took a sip of her pumpkin juice and was about to continue the conversation when McGonagall had started talking.

Buffy really didn't listen, but she did hear something about a Hogsmeade trip. Which she knew that she and Willow would be going to Hogsmeade with all those in their third year or above on that first trip, to make sure that nothing happened to any of the students.

Buffy smiled as the food appeared on the plate before her. She dug in quickly and there was no more discussion between herself and Remus until about halfway through the meal, when Buffy looked over to see that all he was doing was picking with his food.

"Now, how are you supposed to feel better, when you won't eat anything?"

Buffy didn't notice that Cordelia nearly choked on her asparagus tips. Remus patted Cordelia on the back, and that made Buffy's face turn pink with jealousy.

"Lost my appetite, Buffy, please..." he stopped and noticed her reddening face. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." Buffy realized quickly that she was probably really giving herself away now and shook her head. "Just worried about you, is all."

"I'm perfectly fine," Remus shook his head at her, "You needn't worry about me."

x x x x x

Xander looked at himself in the mirror. He removed his eye patch and could see everything very clearly, in fact, he saw that he had two eyes. He then quickly replaced the eye patch and shook his head.

"Something screwy is going on here," he whispered to himself.

He took off the entire eye patch and then slowly began to touch all parts around his eye. Finally, when one of his fingers slipped and he poked himself in the eye, he realized that he was in fact able to see. He smiled, but then shook his head and ran out of his room.

He skipped down the stairs as quickly as he could and realized that he was late for dinner. He opened the Great Hall's double doors and slowly walked to the teacher's table. He ran up to Willow and pointed at his eye.

"Xander?" Willow asked incredulously as she looked at both of his eyes.

"Look!" Xander pointed again.

"Oh, my God!" Buffy's voice echoed off the walls. The students were starting to watch the scene unfold. Buffy ran across the room and turned Xander around to face her.

"I woke up like this!" Xander exclaimed.

"Why didn't you come find us earlier, then?" Willow asked as she smiled at Xander's happiness.

"I thought I was going insane," he admitted and then hugged them both. He then waved over at Cordelia. "Hey, Cordy! I can see!"

"It's about time you got over trying to be like Johnny Depp," Cordelia smiled and winked at him.

x x x x x

After dinner, Willow had decided to take a stroll around the Hogwarts grounds. It had become her after dinner enjoyment; which had stared as a group gathering. Xander was the only one who would still walk with her, but tonight Professor Sharpeston (the Muggle Studies professor) had wanted to interview Xander... again. It seemed that Buffy was too intent on following Remus like a lost puppy and Cordelia kept shutting herself in her room. Not that Willow minded, she enjoyed being left alone to her thoughts. Though, sometimes the thoughts would take her back to unhappy days; especially when Willow walked through the graveyard.

Willow had pretty much memorized every name on every gravestone, trying to figure out all of their stories. She knew about some of the deaths. Myrtle, whom Willow had met just recently - as she was a resident ghost in a girl's bathroom. There was Bingham Vlatz, who had been in his 5th year (a prefect, no less) when a lethifold had crept into the castle and taken his life. However, a lot of the deaths, Willow was told, did not even happen on Hogwarts soil.

Willow made her way to one of the graves that intrigued her the most. She had been told that it wasn't actually a grave, but a memorial for a student who had died in his seventh year.

"Neville Longbottom." Willow looked at the name on the gravestone and nodded her head. She had never thought that a school would have a graveyard, but then again, Hogwarts was no regular school. Willow placed her hand on the gravestone, but quickly withdrew it. She stared at the name and slowly felt pain creeping over her fingers. Looking at her hands, she saw that her fingertips were covered in blood.

"Will?"

Willow jumped and turned around to face Buffy. Buffy gave her a half-smile and knelt down beside her.

"Sad, isn't it?" Buffy murmured.

Willow looked down at her hand, the blood was gone, but the pain still lingered. "Yeah."

"Weird, too," Buffy stood up and held out her hand for Willow. Willow took her hand and stood up beside her.

"How so?"

"No vampires popping out," Buffy smiled slightly.

Willow nodded. "Let's go back inside, huh?"

"Yeah," Buffy took Willow by the arm and they slowly walked through the tombstones and back into the castle.

Willow gave one last look back at the graveyard and sighed. She decided that one day she'd know what happened to the Longbottom boy.

x x x x x

It was one of those great Saturday nights. Everybody was lounging around, playing wizard's chess (which Xander was losing frightfully to a first year Hufflepuff), talking about the Quidditch match of Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw (which Willow was still bugging Cordelia about - 200 to 80), and, of course, gossiping about a new relationship between the Gryffindor Head of House and the Gryffindor Protector.

It wasn't that the Great Hall was a hangout of sorts, but on Saturday nights a lot of the students came in to mingle with the other houses and have a good time. Which the four Protectors didn't mind too much either, considering that that meant that they got to hang with each other every Saturday night.

"I miss the movies," Xander complained as the first year student beat him yet again.

"Oh, shut it, Xander," Cordelia rolled her eyes as she, Buffy, and Willow all laughed.

"You better call for your mummy, Harris!" The boy squealed as one of his knights overtook Xander's queen.

"Damn," Xander pouted and then ruffled the boy's hair with his hand. "You're just lucky, Charlie."

"No," Charlie disagreed; "you're just rubbish."

"DEMENTORS!"

The hall erupted into a fit of chaos, very quickly as everyone in the hall looked towards the double doors. A large man with a long fur coat had burst open the doors, and he didn't look too happy.

"Hagrid, are you quite sure?" Tiny Professor Flitwick's eyes widened and he ran to one of the portraits and told him to fetch the Headmistress, then he ran around trying to calm the students, telling them to hurry to their common rooms.

"Hundred's of 'em!" Hagrid exclaimed. "An' headin' straigh' for us!"

Willow looked around and grabbed Xander and Buffy. "We have to go to our rooms." But, before Willow could get a hold of Cordelia, she saw her running out of the hall.

Cordelia's thoughts flashed in her head. She looked up into the sky as soon as she slipped through a small door that led to the outside. Blood on the moon. Cordelia, then, automatically thought of Lupin. She whipped out her wand, knowing perfectly well that the only spell she could do well was a hair-fixing charm, but damn it, if she couldn't do it perfectly.

"Cordelia!"

Cordelia heard her name being called as she continued to run. She had thought that Remus had been locked up, but if in her vision he was there, then he had to be around here. Cordelia looked at her surroundings, and realized that she needed to be on the other side of the castle.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A blinding white light erupted all around the castle and Cordelia fell to the ground from the shock. The next thing she knew, three sets of hands were helping her up. Buffy, Xander, and Willow were standing around her as they all stared as the hundreds of cloaked figures flew off in the distance.

They were all rendered speechless.

x x x x x

"Dolohov," Harry muttered. "Dolohov probably sent the Dementors to see how strong the borders are."

"I quite agree," McGonagall whispered as she entered the room. A number of Aurors had arrived as quickly as the could. Harry had told everyone that he had apparated just outside of the grounds as soon as he had gotten McGonagall's message. Which, Xander had then opened his mouth asking if Harry had put on the fine display of light; while Harry had simply smiled and said that all he did was a Patronus Charm.

"Harry, I need to talk to you," McGonagall said as her stern eyes fell on everyone in the room. "I'll keep him only for a few minutes."

As Harry and McGonagall left the room, the place grew loud with excited talks and whispers. Xander, Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia didn't know over half of the wizards in the room, but knew that they were either Ministry Officials, Aurors, or Unspeakables. Buffy had quickly learned why they were called Unspeakables. When she asked them what their names were, their eyes had opened wide and they scowled at her as if she had asked them to dress in drag and do the hula.

"Y'know," Willow whispered, "I overheard one of the Ministry guys talking about the Dementors."

"What?" Xander asked as he, Buffy, and Cordelia all leaned in to hear Willow better.

"Seems, that they have more than one attack." Willow nodded.

"The kiss," Cordelia simply said, her vision replaying in her head. She then spaced off, remembering that nothing about the vision had come true.

Xander shivered, remembering the last time, anything remotely magical had kissed him. Buffy patted him on the back, knowing fully well why he had shivered.

"Now they have something worse than that... instead of sucking out your soul... they make you a living corpse. Your body literally decays as they suck away your life."

"Sounds peachy," Xander snorted.

"They call it the Decay of Death." Willow nodded.

There was a slight pause until Xander broke the silence, "Remind me again, why I chose to come and get my soul sucked out?"

x _chapter's end _x

__

After Thoughts: Read and review, please and thanks! Don't really have a lot to say! Just... wooh... quick update!

Look forward to Ch. 15 entitled:

****

The Auror's Message

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The Phoenix Orb sends out an alert to all Aurors.


	15. The Auror's Message

__

Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 15

The Auror's Message

x x x x x

Xander looked up at the rather odd shaped clock on the ceiling. It had what Willow called 'runes' instead of normal numbers to tell the time... and Xander had been watching it for what seemed like hours. Well, there had been the few times when he had taken a nap from sheer boredom. A lot of the wizards were taking naps, considering that none of them wanted to get at the head of the table and talk without McGonagall or Harry.

"The Headmistress is returning!" Xander jumped as one of the paintings on the wall screamed into the room. The sound of snores subsided as the door opened, revealing Harry, McGonagall, and... Hagrid?

Xander had met Hagrid a few times, when he had went out onto the grounds strolling with Willow one time, they'd run smack into Hagrid. At that time, Xander nearly toppled over from a heart attack, because of the large man-eating plant that Hagrid was holding. Which _had_ tried to eat him for dinner, thanks very much. It was a long story that Xander didn't want to relive, at least not at the present time.

"Hagrid, just tell them what you told us, okay?" Xander overheard Harry whisper to the rather large man.

"Er, alrigh'." Hagrid's voice boomed into the room. Xander looked over and saw his three girls... they all seemed really intent on what Hagrid had to say, so Xander turned right back around and decided that he, too, was going to be intent on what he had to say.

"I was feedin' Winston an'... well... I go' that feelin'... it was all un'appy-like." Hagrid paused and looked up at all the faces in the room. "I figured the wors' an' all, bein' that D-D-Dolohov..."

Xander saw Harry pat Hagrid on his elbow, since he obviously couldn't reach up to his shoulder.

"Well, I, er... wen' outside. Tha's when I saw 'em all... righ' at the gate. I ran quick t'the castle."

"Thank you, Hagrid." McGonagall's voice interrupted the silence that followed Hagrid's little speech. "Please, have a seat."

Hagrid pulled up a rather large chair, which Xander figured that he'd seen a lot of those around the castle. Almost like there was one in each room, in case Hagrid ever wanted to come in and have a sit down. Seemed like a nice gesture, Xander thought.

"As soon as Professor Flitwick told Sir Nantucket, his portrait is in the Great Hall, I was delivered the news instantly. I sent out a Phoenix message, a few Aurors apparated just outside the gates and did what they could." McGonagall took the seat at the head of the table, while Harry stayed beside Hagrid. "I sent out every teacher to hold back the onslaught of the Dementors, in the battle, we lost two. Sveena Sinistra and Clive Sharpeston were both given the Kiss by the Dementors."

Xander then faded out as he thought about Sharpeston. He had been really nice to him and he had wanted to know everything about his world... which Xander was all to willing to tell him about video games and why Pez was the greatest candy in the world. Xander blinked as he thought about their last meeting, it hadn't been that long ago.

x x x x x

After the meeting, Cordelia had tried to find Harry. She found Professor Flitwick who told her that he had quickly left afterwards to go back to where he had been before. Cordelia hated all of the secrets that surrounded Harry and "where he was." All she wanted was to tell him that she was having visions about a lot of crazy Magical World stuff. Couldn't a girl with visions _ever_ get a break?

She figured the answer was a big fat no.

As she made her way to her room, Cordelia wished that she could tell somebody. Sure... Willow knew about her visions... there were those times when she had come to L.A. and helped out A.I. for a short time. But, she didn't want to burden Willow. Willow probably had enough to deal with, and Cordelia didn't want to burden her with her problems. Heck, she didn't want to burden Harry with her problems, but Harry seemed to be one of those 'helping the hopeless' people. Or was it 'helping the helpless' that she had made up? It didn't matter... she just knew that Harry was the one to tell. And when he was in an undisclosed location and he hardly ever showed up and what with her visions actually kind of not visionizing... it was a little on the hard side to actual do anything remotely helpful.

Cordelia finally made it to her bed; it seemed like she had been walking for hours. The Grey Lady had been following her, keeping silent, and leaving Cordelia to her thoughts. Cordelia turned around and nodded her thanks. The Lady smiled back and then went off into a wall. Cordelia was just thankful that Peeves hadn't decided on following her. She hated that moron.

As Cordelia collapsed on her bed, she exhaled deeply and wished she had a teddy bear.

__

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Cordelia wanted to ignore whoever it was at the door, but it could be something important. And, being that she was indeed the Ravenclaw Guardian, she figured she better open the damn door. No matter how much she hated it right now for allowing someone to knock on it. The first thing tomorrow morning, she was asking Flitwick for a charm to ward everyone away from knocking on her door...

"What!" Cordelia screamed at the top of her lungs as she leapt from the bed and jerked open the door.

Severus Snape... again. He held up a small, furry, brown looking thing that Cordelia took no notice of.

"I know of some muggle comforts and since the potion is slowly wearing off, I know-"

"Are you some sort of mind reader?" Cordelia finally noticed the small, furry, brown looking thing. It was a _teddy bear_. She stared at the bear; it had a small green and silver scarf tied around its neck. She rolled her eyes, there had to be Slytherin colors on the teddy bear. She automatically thought that Willow might like it better, since Willow was the Slytherin Guardian.

Snape blinked, which Cordelia thought odd. He actually looked startled at something. "_No_, I just thought that this would make sleep easier for you."

Cordelia nodded and then took the small bear. "Uh, thanks."

"My pleasure," he nodded his head and gave her a really weird look. Cordelia couldn't quite tell what kind of look it was. It wasn't menacing or evil... nor was it kind or happy. It was... _weird_. He then took a step back and bowed his head. "Sleep well."

Cordelia caught the slightest sneer in his tone. She watched as he walked away... leaving her completely in awe. She shut the door and decided that it was time for bed. As she pulled the covers up to her chin, she snuggled with the bear, thankful that there was something worth snuggling with in this castle.

It was a lot easier to go to sleep than she had thought it would be... a small cloud fogged up her mind as she breathed in the soft peppermint smell of the bear's fur.

x x x x x

"WAKE UP!"

Cordelia blinked and yawned. It was way too early to think about getting up.

"Cordy! Get up!"

Cordelia snuggled up with her teddy bear as she slowly felt sleep begin to take her again. It was at that moment when someone yanked off the covers... taking her teddy bear with the covers. Cordelia wanted to scream.

"It's three o'clock in the afternoon;" Buffy shook her head as she tossed Cordelia a muffin. Cordelia caught it and blinked again.

"What?"

"You heard me;" Buffy huffed as she sat down on a chair in front of Cordelia's mirror. "Remus wants to meet us all, and here you are sleeping all damn day." Buffy tossed Cordelia the teddy bear. "Who gave you that, by the way?"

Cordelia caught the bear and leaned back down on the bed, sleep calling to her again.

"Oh, my God!" Buffy rolled her eyes. "I'm going to kick your ass all over Hogwarts if you don't get up!"

Cordelia sat up and threw a pillow at Buffy, which was so badly aimed that Buffy had to walk almost six feet to pick it back up and throw it back at Queen C.

x x x x x

"Ministry's orders," Lupin said, as he took in a deep breath. He was looking even more tired, which Cordelia was well aware of. She knew that the full moon had one more night, and then everything would be okay until next month. Lupin was definitely a trooper; when he should be getting as much rest as possible he was up and about. "I have to show you what a Phoenix Orb is and why it's important in the fight against Dolohov."

There was a pause where Xander kind of nodded his head, but before he could speak, Lupin continued on.

"If you ever see a message being sent, you are not to interfere. And if you are on the receiving end, you are to aid the Auror in any way possible." He said, matter-of-factly.

"I've seen a Phoenix Orb before," Xander spoke up as Cordelia, Willow, and Buffy all looked at him.

"Yes, Nymphadora told me about your little excursion together in Godric's Hollow." Lupin winked at Xander.

Xander laughed but then suddenly sobered up, "She didn't tell you about the Nerks... did she?"

Lupin shook his head, and Xander automatically wished that he hadn't said anything. He knew now that he'd have to spill the proverbial Nerk beans to everybody sooner or later.

"I am actually, the only male who can send messages in Hogwarts." Lupin motioned for the four Guardians to sit as he uncovered a small red orb from behind a curtain. The orb floated to a round table, and as soon as it touched the table cloth, the cloth turned from purple to a dark red. "I'm going to show you what sending a message looks like... I'm going to send a message to Harry Potter and Nigel Isler."

"Who is Nigel I-I-" Willow had trouble pronounced the last name.

"Isler?"

"Yes." Willow nodded.

"Nigel Isler, Harry, and myself are the only three wizards who can send a message through the Phoenix orb. Minerva McGonagall and Hermione Granger are the only witches who can send messages. Five in all." Lupin concluded as he stepped towards the orb.

"Why can't we see your orb?" Buffy asked. Xander snickered and Cordelia hit him on the arm.

"My orb isn't on Hogwarts' grounds. The five orbs that can send messages are hidden, except for this one. Dolohov knows that McGonagall's orb is here, and she's the only one that he knows can send a message." He paused and looked at the orb. "Though we have a sneaking suspicion that he believes Harry is also a Phoenix Message Sender."

Cordelia realized that a **_P_**hoenix **M**essage **S**ender could be shortened to PMS. She smiled slightly, but didn't want to interrupt Lupin.

"Will we see the other orbs?" Buffy was looking intently at the red orb. She didn't see how a small little orb could send an actual message.

"Perhaps," Lupin smiled at Buffy and Buffy batted her eyelashes almost instinctively. "But, until you are ready to know where the other orbs are, you will only know of this one."

There was another pause, while Lupin let the information sink in.

"To send a message through the orb, the sender has to link their mind with the orb." Lupin stood beside the orb and then looked back at the four. "I'm going to tell you what happens, and then I'll show you. So first, they must connect. The connection is hard to obtain, that's why so very few wizards are able to send messages. Once the connection is made, it looks as if the sender has gone into a fit. During that time, the sender is thinking of the message. It can't be too long, or the sender won't be able to hold the link. Using their mind, they must write the text in the air, then they slowly detach their mind away from the orb, and banish the text with their wand to the other orbs."

They all stared at him and he nodded his head. "Now, I shall show you. Please, don't worry when I look like I'm in trouble." He smiled and then touched the orb. Lupin's eyes closed and he slowly began to shake, but before it looked as if he were about to faint bright red words began to display above the orb.

__

Potter and Isler. Showing the Protectors the orb.

Xander noticed as Lupin waves his wand and the text hurriedly dived into the orb, that the sentence was actually normal. He remembered seeing the first sentence being contorted.

"What about the first sentence?" Xander pointed as the words appeared in the orb again and then flashed into oblivion.

"One of the greatest wizards of all time created the orbs and worked out in exact detail how they work. His name was Albus Dumbledore, though that really is of no importance. After he sent the first message, he realized that no matter how you send it, the first sentence is always bungled. He thought it rather funny and never fixed it. It's just a glitch we all know now."

As Lupin spoke, he turned his attention to the orb as two message began to scribble themselves into thin air.

__

Loo C. Isler.

Lupin smiled. "Isler received the message rather quickly."

__

Ru Of-net. Potter.

"OOH! TEN-FOUR!" Xander squealed as the second message began to scribble below Isler's message.

"He always likes to send back muggle phrases." Lupin muttered.

A small creak was heard behind Lupin as another door, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, opened revealing McGonagall. She nodded at Lupin who then placed the Phoenix Orb up and then exited the room.

Cordelia knew he was off to get some much needed and deserved sleep. She glanced at Buffy, who looked as if she wanted to follow him. Cordelia smiled at the obvious crush that Buffy had. Though, Cordelia highly doubted the Lupin actually noticed it.

"I need to speak to Miss Rosenberg alone, if you three don't mind."

x _chapter's end _x

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After Thoughts: If you read, I'd love to know what you thought about the chapter. Review and I shall love you for forever and always! And... I want to thank ALL of my reviewers, I love reading each and every review that each of you leave. They make me happy!

The Lethifold is a creature in the Harry Potter world. Look in your Care of Magical Creatures book that the lovely JKR wrote for her fans.

The Cordy/Snape stuff... gah... it's so funny when I write it, because... hahaha! You'll have to wait until around January in the Potter-world. LOL (btw - it's almost Halloween).

Look forward to Ch. 16 entitled:

****

No Longer Empowered

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Buffy learns something the hard way.


	16. No Longer Empowered

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 16

No Longer Empowered

x x x x x

Willow followed McGonagall into a small room. She took in her surroundings; a desk in the center of the room, a fireplace, and the wall was lined with portraits. Willow eyed a few of the paintings. One painting was of a witch riding a dragon, she then flew immediately to the painting next to her, causing the old man in the portrait to laugh. Willow thought that the old man looked familiar, but she took no notice as McGonagall coughed, getting her attention.

"Read this."

Willow took the small piece of parchment from McGonagall's outstretched arms. She unfolded the edges and her eyes fell upon the black ink.

__

No one wants another flock of Dementors on their doorstep. Release the Willow. We are waiting. DM.

Willow squinted her eyes. The Willow? Since when was her name accompanied with _the_?

"I don't know wh-"

"Do you know Draco Malfoy?" McGonagall took the paper back and pointed at the note.

"Draco Malfoy?" Willow nodded her head. "Yeah, when I was in Hogsmeade, a Draco Malfoy bought me a paper and some pumpkin juice."

"This letter is in his handwriting and he even signed it himself." McGonagall placed the note on the desk and shook her head. "It's very rare of him to actually sign a note. Very rare."

By the tone in McGonagall's voice, Willow swore that she was in trouble. Willow took in a deep breath. She didn't know what to make of the situation.

"The note seems more cryptic-"

"Yes, and he thinks that we are holding you captive." McGonagall said. "He believes you to be one of them."

Willow's eyes grew wide. She didn't like how things were starting to sound. At that very moment, she remembered something about her day in Hogsmeade, that she couldn't believe she hadn't thought about until now. The man outside the window who was calling for Draco... it had been Dolohov. Willow shook her head; they had gone straight to Diagon Alley after that to cause trouble. Willow felt the goosebumps creep down her spine.

"Now, I want you to know that I am not worried in the slightest about your loyalty to your friends or to Hogwarts." McGonagall awakened Willow from her thoughts.

"I know a good heart when I meet one."

Willow turned around to face the voice. The old man that had caught her eye earlier in one of the portraits winked at her. Willow looked at his twinkling eyes and his crooked nose... that was the same guy from Hogsmeade (who had been in a different painting) that had told her to go to Diagon Alley.

"I'm confused." Willow gulped.

"I have more than one painting, Miss Rosenberg." Dumbledore smiled. "I help Minerva keep track of the goings-on in our world. And just because I can't be there with you in a corporeal form, doesn't mean I can't keep tabs on things."

"But-"

"Please, Miss Rosenberg," McGonagall held up her hands. "I must ask you one very important question."

Willow looked back at the painting of Dumbledore, he nodded his head, and Willow looked to the floor. "Okay."

"Would you be willing to be a spy for the Order?"

x x x x x

Buffy walked down the hall. She had decided that she needed to see Remus, especially since he hadn't been at lunch or dinner. Buffy figured he was sick, and she thought that they could both lift each others spirits. What with her Slayer healing powers teetering on mediocre. Buffy didn't know if it was just her, if the magic here was stronger than anything she'd ever faced, or if something else was afoot.

As she was about to knock on Remus's door; the door rattled and shook. Buffy withdrew her hand and stood staring at the door for a few seconds to gather her bearings. She tried to focus all her attention on the door. She heard nothing unnatural coming from behind the door and she didn't feel any sort of presence behind the door.

__

Probably just Peeves, Buffy thought.

She turned the doorknob and the scene in front of her caused her mouth to drop open. Severus Snape stared up at her as he conjured a large cage that placed itself around Buffy. The cage leapt forward and the door behind her slammed quickly and she noticed about ten bolts appeared on the door.

"Summers!" Snape snarled as he shook his head. "Foolish girl."

"Why'd you put me in a cage?" Buffy demanded.

"Your protection."

"I don't need your protection!" Buffy screamed. There was silence after that as Buffy heard a low growl behind her. She turned around to see a werewolf grabbing at her through her cage. Her eyes opened wide and she felt a surge of adrenaline as she went to kick the hairy hand reaching for her.

A small yelp echoed through the room and a moment later her cage was knocked over. The werewolf was now trying to get into her cage.

"Funis!"

A tangle of ropes weaved themselves around the werewolf as her cage righted itself again and then the cage disappeared. It had reappeared around the werewolf.

"Next time if you want to be bit by a werewolf; I suggest going about it around someone else." Snape said. "Now, if you would please get out. He'll break through the ropes and the cage in a few minutes. I have to keep him occupied."

"Why don't you just kill him and get it over with?" Buffy asked as she brushed herself off.

"I can't kill a fellow wizard and professor." Snape's eyebrows arched as he looked at Buffy.

Buffy stared at the werewolf that had already gnawed through the ropes and was now working on the cage. "Who is it?"

"Oh, can't you tell?" Snape crossed his arms. "It's Professor Lupin."

Buffy watched as the werewolf unlatched the cage and began to move slowly towards her. Another tangle of ropes flew at the werewolf.

"He didn't take his potion, so now he wants to eat everybody in sight." Snape continued as Buffy continued to stare. There was only growling from the werewolf as Snape and Buffy said nothing.

Buffy didn't want to see Snape's face, since she knew that he was probably sneering.

"Summers!"

Buffy did look up, just in time to see the werewolf lunge toward her. Buffy tried to get out of the way, but the werewolf clawed at her and kept her down. It bared its teeth and then went to bite her, but in an instant it was flung off of her and was in a new cage.

"He didn't bite you, did he?" Snape held out his hand to help Buffy up.

"No." Buffy paused for a moment, thinking that he might have poisoned his own hand, just to see her suffer.

"I think, Buffy, that you can leave him with me," Snape said as he helped Buffy up.

"You sure you don't need me?" Buffy looked over her shoulder at the werewolf.

"I'll get him to drink his potion in the morning, but other than that, I think he's going to be fine for the rest of the night," Snape insisted. "You'd be doing more harm than good."

"Mm'kay," Buffy sighed.

"Oh, and Buffy," Buffy turned around and wondered what Snape might have to say. She was actually surprised that he hadn't been rude to her yet. "Too bad you had to find out about your dear Remus this way." Snape arched an eyebrow at her and waved his wand as the door shut right in her face.

Buffy rolled her eyes and walked away slowly from Remus's office. And that's when it hit her. Why hadn't she been able to move away from the werewolf attack? Certainly she had tried and usually it was an easy task.

She looked down at her hands, she had one cut from when ... Remus ... had cut her. It wasn't a bad cut, but it would heal easily.

__

No, Buffy thought,_ it won't. The bruising that doesn't go away, being outmanuevered all those times, and just now I couldn't even control a werewolf. God, what is it with me? First vampires now werewolves? Can't I ever have a normal boyfriend?_

Some tiny voice in her head sounded like the Soup Nazi, which Buffy didn't enjoy. _No normal boyfriends for you!_

Buffy realized that she was already at her room. She walked slowly and one of the Gryffindor 5th years bounded up beside her.

"Hey, Buffy," the boy said.

"Hey," Buffy forced a smile, "Need anything?"

"Could you help me with my Muggle Studies homework?"

"Sure, just give me a sec, okay?" Buffy winked at the boy and went into her room to change. As soon as she saw her bed, she collapsed onto it and took in a deep breath.

__

Pull yourself together, Buffy thought._ Crying only makes things more sucky than they already are._

Buffy took in another breath and found her way to her closet. She put on her pajamas and headed to the Gryffindor common room; trying her best to keep one thought out of her mind.

__

There's no way I can help fight without my powers.

x _chapter's end _x

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After Thoughts: Read and review, please and thanks!

Poor Buffy, huh? For all you Buffy lovers out there, I promise that she'll be okay. She has another purpose. She's a trooper and there IS a happy ending in store for her. Okie-dokie?

Sorry that this chapter took such a long time. Life. Is. A. Big. Pain. And work ain't so hot either... but I said that I will always update. And I will!

Next chapter is funny! And so is the one after that! So... YAY! Give you a few serious chapters and then I'll give a few fun chapters. Chapter 18 is SO my favorite. I've been slaving over it since Chapter 10... so now while I'm finally writing it... YAY!

Look forward to Ch. 17 entitled:

****

All Hallow's Eve

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A great Halloween Bash brings a few friends to Hogwarts.


	17. All Hallow's Eve

__

Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 17

All Hallow's Eve

x x x x x

"Shouldn't I-"

"No."

"But, they'll-"

"I'll tell them."

"It's-"

"It's better if it is like this. And when you have arrived, please, act normal. Did you take that potion that I gave you? Good."

Willow gulped slightly. It wasn't that she was nervous; it's just that she remembered taking that horrible goopy potion. It had felt like slime as it went down. McGonagall had told her that it was a very complex protective form of magic that she had swallowed. When Willow asked more about it; McGonagall had ignored her. Willow figured it was for the best. Especially if the Death Eaters found out about her and tried to hack through her brain.

"Nervous?"

"Just a little," Willow breathed.

"Don't be too nervous. Since Malfoy seems to think that you're being held captive here, then he obviously isn't suspicious of you."

"Yeah, he took this weird liking towards me." Willow nodded as McGonagall handed Willow a wand. "What..."

"We know that you can do magic without a wand, but if Dolohov finds out. He'll probably have you murdered."

"Oh," Willow looked at the wand.

__

Bright little ray of sunshine, McGonagall is, Willow thought.

"Miss Rosenberg," McGonagall took Willow by the hand. "You have everything that you need. Around Christmas, we will need you to come back, as you already know. And, remember they will not know anything other than what you tell them."

"Uh, okay." Willow nodded. She had been through about a five hour meeting with the majority of the teachers and a few other people who she would probably never meet again. Willow felt very privileged, but wondered exactly how she was going to get through this. If anyone was to be going to spy, Willow thought that it should be Buffy. Definitely not herself. But, Dumbledore had thought that she was the best candidate for it.

"We're going to take you to a portkey-"

"Wait!" Willow yelled, then let out a nervous laugh. "You're really serious that I won't be able to go and tell my friends 'bye?"

"It's best," McGonagall said as she pulled Willow towards a windowsill. "Touch the feather, dear."

Willow touched the feather and felt a slight pull below her belly button. When she finally felt her feet touch ground she let out her breath and opened her eyes. There stood Draco Malfoy, looking at a small black pocket watch.

"Just in time." He smirked. "Let's go." He took her hand and pulled her towards a swirling black hole. Willow didn't want to step in the hole, but Draco kept pulling her forwards. "Lord Dolohov cannot contain his excitement."

x x x x x

"Xander?"

Xander looked up to see Cordelia standing over him. He smiled and pointed at his new creation... a wooden puppet.

"Yeah?"

"What is that?"

"Venny the Puppet." Xander made the small puppet wink at Cordelia and then nod its wooden head towards a few students walking down the hall. "Homework, y'know. Flitwick wanted them to charm something immobile and make it move."

"Well, Geppeto, if you see Willow will you tell her that I need to talk to her?" Cordelia rolled her eyes and continued down the hall.

Xander watched as Cordelia walked off. Even if he saw Willow, he figured he would annoy Cordelia and just keep his mouth shut.

x x x x x

"You're kidding?"

"No, Miss Chase, I am not." McGonagall shook her head.

"You mean-"

"Yes."

"No."

"Oh, yes."

There was a stunned silence in the room as Xander, Buffy, and Cordelia looked at McGonagall.

"We're really getting to throw the Halloween Party?" Xander asked.

"Yes." McGonagall huffed.

"That could be cool." Buffy nodded; which Xander noted that she was being incredibly quiet as of late.

"Why isn't Willow-"

"She's busy doing other errands." McGonagall said. "I'll fill you all in after you all have helped with the Halloween party."

"But-"

"You have my answer;" McGonagall frowned at Buffy who had dared tried to get a word in. "Now, hop to it!"

x x x x x

"Ouch!" Xander looked down at his finger as a small drop of blood appeared on the skin. He put his throbbing finger in his mouth and pouted for only a moment. Xander heard footsteps to his right and when he looked up he saw a tall, thin redhead.

Normally when a tall, thin redhead walked towards Xander, he wanted to do back flips to get their attention. Hell, anything to get a date with something that didn't want to eat him after having sex. However, today when a tall, thin redhead walked his way, he felt really strange to be thinking this way. Considering the redhead was a guy.

The man looked at Xander for a moment and then walked over to tiny Professor Flitwick. Xander noticed the man nodding his head towards Xander and then a smile flew across his face. The freckles that Xander hadn't noticed earlier appeared rather quickly when the man smiled.

"You're one of those Protector chaps;" he called across the Great Hall. Xander looked around as the echoes bounced in every direction.

"Sure am." Xander noticed that he still had his finger in his mouth, (so it sounded like, "Thurham.") and feeling thoroughly embarrassed yanked his finger out quickly. No wonder the man had looked at him strangely.

"Brilliant!" The man walked over to him and then held out his hand. "I'm Ron."

"Xander." Xander stood up quickly and took his hand.

"What are you making?" Ron pointed at the crumpled heap beside Xander.

"It's supposed to be a Grim Reaper, but the damn blade cut me. Who'd'a thought it was real, y'know?" Xander laughed.

"I dunno, mate," the man shrugged as he looked at the black mass on the floor. "Looks more like-"

"The Blob?" Xander interrupted and smiled.

"What?"

"Never mind," Xander said when he realized that the majority of the time; it was useless to talk about muggle things. "Not important."

"Xander!"

"Yeah?" Xander whirled around and saw Cordelia and Buffy carrying a large pumpkin.

"Help, please," Cordelia muttered as she tried to shift her weight. Ron hurried over to help with the heavy load and Xander was right on his heels. They took the pumpkin away from the girls and nearly fell over from the weight of the large orange accessory.

"Nicked it from Hagrid's, huh?" Ron asks as they sat the pumpkin down on the floor, not three feet away from where Cordelia and Buffy stood.

Buffy stared at Ron and Xander, "Well, hell, we could have put it there."

"Yeah, Hagrid wanted us to take the largest pumpkin he had, but considering this was the smallest, I don't think we would have lasted very long," Cordelia rubbed her shoulder where the pumpkin had been resting. "Thanks for helping..."

"RONALD WEASLEY!"

Ron's ears went pink as the shrill voice echoed throughout the halls. He slowly turned around and two figures (a witch and wizard) were walking towards the group.

"How dare you go off without telling me where you were going! Your mother called worried sick, because her clock said that you were mortal peril! How dare you scare me like that! And what with this new war going on! You ought to be completely and utterly ashamed of yourself!"

There was a tense silence in the Great Hall as everyone stared. And as quick as lightening, the woman leapt into Ron's arms, kissing him and hugging him.

"Hello to you too, Hermione," Ron's muffled voice spoke amidst the kisses.

"They're always like this," a deep voice sounded in the room. Xander looked over to Flitwick, who hadn't moved a muscle and was still working on enchanting a line of skeletons to dance. Then Xander's eyes fell on the wizard who had just entered with Hermione.

"They married?" Cordelia asked.

"They will be soon enough," the wizard laughed as Ron desperately tried to calm Hermione down by telling her that he never was in mortal peril. He had had a run in with a rather snarky unicorn ghost and it had tried to gore him ("Nothing I couldn't handle, really!").

"And I thought she was married to Harry," Xander commented.

The wizard laughed. "Oh, no. The three of them were inseparable during their years here at Hogwarts. The best of friends; Weasley and Granger didn't even come to their senses until after their seventh year. When Harry found out he told them that it was about time."

They were all silent as the little tiff between Hermione and Ron continued ("How was I supposed to know that it was only a unicorn and not Dolohov!").

"Oh," the wizard grunted. "Forgive my rudeness... I'm Nigel Isler."

"I know that name..." Xander muttered.

"You're one of the PMS'ers!" Buffy shook her head knowingly.

"I beg your pardon?" Nigel blinked at Buffy.

"Phoenix Message Sender... a PMS'er." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "I'm Cordelia, that's Xander and Buffy, we're-"

"Yes, I know, three quarters of the HPU." There was a pause as Buffy, Xander, and Cordelia stared at Nigel. "Hogwarts Protective Unit. I can do the same thing, Miss Summers. Where's the other-"

"We were told she was off doing an errand." Xander replied.

"Oh, yes," Nigel bit his bottom lip and nodded his head. "I remember now."

"Will someone please start decorating!" Flitwick's voice carried throughout the Great Hall. "I can't do this entire hall all by myself!"

x x x x x

The Halloween Bash was going rather well. Or at least the planning part was going rather well... Nigel, Hermione, and Ron had all stayed to help a little with the party. And everyone had a specific job. Cordelia was assigned as the art/theme manager; Buffy, the costume designer; Xander, the construction artist (no matter how hard he tried, Cordelia wouldn't let him be color coordinator ... and besides at least his title wasn't construction _worker_); Flitwick, the special effects director; Ron, the party favors planner; Nigel, the culinary expert; and Hermione, the overall director.

Cordelia was upset that Hermione had taken over as soon as she had stepped foot into the Great Hall. But, when Hermione was off doing other things, Cordelia took it upon herself to be the director.

"Hey Flitwick!" Cordelia crossed the room and watched as a dozen coffins were being dragged into the hall. "What's in those?"

"Vampires!" Flitwick called back.

Cordelia looked at Flitwick like he had fifty heads. "Like real ones?"

"Oh, yes, they always enjoy our parties. Believe me though, they've had plenty to drink."

"Too bad, Buff, I'm sure you've been getting a little rusty as of late." Xander winked at Buffy as he yelled across the hall and nearly fell off the tall beam he was sitting on. "Whoa!"

"Yeah," Buffy called out nervously and turned back around to the costumes that she had been cooking up. With a little help from Hermione occasionally to put the pieces together by magic, Buffy was getting all of the students' costumes in order. The Protectors had thought that a more muggle style of celebrating Halloween would change things up a bit in the magical realm.

"How is everything going in here?" Hermione appeared with a small pen in her hand and the notebook she was writing in was floating with her as she walked.

"Fine," Cordelia huffed.

"Ron," Hermione patted Ron on the shoulder. "I'm going down to the kitchens and I think-"

"Oh, no you don't!" Ron stood up from his work place where there were tons of bags piling up on each side of the desk. The party favors were going to be the best thing for the kids - fun and games and plenty of candy for them to make themselves sick off of. Literally.

"What?" Hermione looked shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not going near the loon!" Ron's hands flew up in the air. "You know what he's like!"

"Yes, but he would love to see you," Hermione scolded. "You owe it to him to visit."

"Fine," Ron gave in and turned to the group, rolling his eyes. Buffy laughed inwardly.

"Hey!" Xander called out as he nearly fell from the beam again. Building a guillotine was tricky; he wished that he could just find a guillotine in the castle, but Nearly Headless Nick had made sure to take anything remotely close to a guillotine out of Xander's reach. Something about not having someone else join the Headless Hunt before Nick himself was allowed to join. Xander thought of how insane his life was, but laughed it off. "I've never been to the kitchens; I haven't been able to find a way there yet."

"Sure, you can come along," Hermione smiled, "and no, Ron, he can't take your place."

Ron huffed and Xander followed the crazy lovebirds off toward kitchen bliss.

x x x x x

Xander found himself surrounded by house elves that were all too willing to get him anything he wanted or even thought about wanting. Xander asked for a banana split with vanilla ice cream and it was handed to him on silver platter with a rather large spoon. Xander was in banana split heaven.

"Who's that?" Xander asked in between bites as he pointed at one of the crazier looking elves. He had tons of socks hung at every possible position on his little elf body.

"Dobby," Hermione said as Dobby leapt towards Ron and gave him a big hug. Ron made a few incoherent mumblings, but there was a definite, "GEROFF!"

Dobby waddled towards Xander who was still busy stuffing his mouth with ice cream. Dobby's big saucer-like eyes blinked up at Xander, "And you is, sir?"

Xander looked down at Dobby, "I is Xander. Dobby right?" Xander held out his hand and the elf looked at his hand with his large eyes. "Please to meet you," Xander continued as he pulled his unshaken hand.

"Dobby, where's Winky?" Ron asked as a dozen elves brought him some cookies and tea.

Xander saw Hermione hit Ron in the shoulder ("Ouch! What was that for?") as a huge tear leaked out from one of Dobby's eyes. There was a small sniff from Dobby and from one of the house elves closest to Xander.

"Winky drinked herself to death, Ron," Xander heard Hermione whisper, "Or have you forgotten?"

"It's been almost three years Hermione!" Ron shouted.

Xander turned his face away and looked at Dobby and the house elf beside him. "Sorry for your loss."

" 'Tis very dangerous for the house elf to drink," Dobby sniffed and then walked back towards the main part of the kitchen.

"Did you know Winky too?" Xander asked.

The other house elf beside Dobby looked up at Xander and shrugged, "I gots a cold." Another sniff. "I came after Winky died. Not too many elves felt too sad, I heard, though." The elf took in a deep breath and then coughed. "She didn't want to work, I's heard."

"Oh," Xander watched as the other elf followed Dobby. Looking down at his banana split, Xander didn't feel like eating anymore. A small pink elf with pink eyes took the platter away and said thank you about one million times.

"Ron, I am very upset," Hermione said as she motioned for Xander to come along.

"I forgot!" Ron defended himself as they all exited the kitchen.

"How do you forget things like that?" Hermione shook her head and continued to walk.

"I have you to remind me, so I take to forgetting quite easily." Ron muttered.

x x x x x

"Wow, this actually turned out to be decent," Buffy said as she placed her cross on the table. She thought that it would be rather funny to be a nun for Halloween.

"Except the part where Nearly Headless Nick decided he wanted to steal my guillotine!" Xander piped in. He had gone as a Sherlock Holmes.

"At least you stopped him from trying to behead himself entirely." Cordelia patted Xander on the shoulder. "I was almost really jealous;" she teased, as she had been Marie Antoinette for the bash.

"I think that if we stay here until next year, that we have to throw the Halloween party again," Buffy sighed as she took off her wimple.

"I agree!" Flitwick walked up to the group and then glanced back into the Great Hall. "The student enjoyed everything - the specialized costumes I think really did it, Miss Summers."

Buffy smiled and thanked him.

"Especially my... what did you call it? Mini-Me costume?"

The three protectors all smiled at each other as Flitwick went back to the party.

"Success is sweet," Xander said as he relaxed in his plush velvet chair.

x _chapter's end _x

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After Thoughts: Did you read? Please review!

I hope I made all the R/H 'shippers happy. It's about time Ron showed up, eh? Seventeen chapters in and FINALLY he makes an appearance. (We're not counting Chapter Three, because he didn't actually have a line.) I really am an evil author. I bet you'd all be surprised to know that Ron is my FAVORITE Potter character.

Oh, and, um, to clear something up. Buffy couldn't tell that Lupin was a werewolf because of the "she has no power" situation. Remember what God was telling Gabe? Buffy, Xander, and Willow aren't supposed to be at Hogwarts... so things are different for them. Any magic from the Non-Magical world (ha - that's funny) is going to change. I am probably incriminating myself right now. Gah!

Look forward to Ch. 18 entitled:

****

Argh Me Hearties!

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Xander, feeling deeply depressed, copes by telling stories...

I am really excited about the next chapter. Yeehaw! I must say that I am insane, but that sometimes when an author writes rather insanely, it turns out rather nicely.


	18. Argh Me Hearties

Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. The story itself is my own ideas; I'm just borrowing a few characters that don't happen to be mine. Don't sue; I'm already broke enough as it is.

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 18

Argh Me Hearties!

x x x x x

Xander closed his eyes and rubbed them with the palms of his hands. It had been about a week since Halloween and Xander was not feeling up to par. Ever since McGonagall had told him that Willow was acting as a spy on behalf of the Order... he hadn't been feeling so hot. Xander hadn't taken the news very well.

Well, actually, it looked as if he wasn't too worried about the entire ordeal. Considering that Cordelia had thrown a bitch fit about not informing people properly and Buffy wanted to hunt Willow down and bring her back to safety. After McGonagall had dismissed them from her office, Cordelia and Buffy were very animated and when Cordelia turned around to ask why Xander hadn't spoken up... well... he did what any normal guy would do.

He lied.

"Hey," Xander recalled his words quite vividly. "McGonagall's got this entire thing under control. I'm a little worried, sure, but... listen... Willow can definitely take care of herself if she needs to. Let's try to not worry too much about something that we can't change."

Xander didn't really know if McGonagall had anything under control. He was about forty percent sure that McGonagall was in the right. But then again nobody banks their life on forty percent, because the other sixty percent puts you six feet under, pushing up yellow daisies.

He certainly was more worried than either Buffy or Cordelia could imagine. Inside he kept worrying about Willow. It wasn't that she couldn't take care of herself; but Xander had always been there just in case. That's what Xander called himself. The 'just in case' guy.

Buffy need saving? Nobody else to go save her? Hey, I'm here just in case this sort of thing happens! Willow ending the world? No problem; got a whole bag of 'Big Bad Willow Fixer-Up' just in case.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Xander sighed. Nobody was _ever_ allowed to depress themselves in peace. Ever.

"Yeah?" Xander called as he looked in the mirror and blinked. His eyes were puffy and red from lack of sleep.

"Can I come in?" It was Cordelia.

"One sec." Xander called as he ran to the basin on the other side of the room and moved it in front of the mirror. He splashed some water on his face. The water was hot and in the mirror he saw his entire face redden. "Dammit!"

"Okay," Xander heard Cordelia through the door. "I'll come back later."

"No!" Xander hurried to the door and opened it. "Come on in."

Cordelia looked around and then looked at Xander. "I'm not _even_ going to ask what you were doing and before I sit on that bed you better get a house elf to clean those sheets."

"What?" Xander looked at his bed; then it dawned on him. "Oh, no, I wasn't..."

"I won't hold it against you;" Cordelia waived her hand as she sat in a chair.

"So?"

"I'm worried," Cordelia stated plainly.

"That's all?" Xander hoped Cordelia hadn't got a good look at his eyes.

"Walk with me?" Cordelia stood up and grabbed Xander's arm.

"You walk all the way here, sit down in a chair, and then want to walk... again?" Xander complained, but had no choice, as Cordelia wasn't letting go. Xander shrugged and began to lead Cordelia down to one of his favorite places. "Let's go tickle the pear."

x x x x x

"And that is how you tickle the pear." Xander put his hands on his hips and stood in a super hero pose. Cordelia laughed as she, too, stood in a super hero pose. "You are The Tickler; the Tickling Pear's sidekick."

"Wow," Cordelia tried keeping some laughter in, but failed. After a minute they both started to control themselves. Cordelia shook off the giggles and sobered for a moment. "Thanks Xander... you know... I wish I was strong like you."

"Don't mention it," Xander's smile that had been plastered on his face wavered slightly.

"Well, I'm going to head up to bed;" Cordelia smiled at Xander, "See you at breakfast."

"See ya," Xander called after Cordelia and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He slowly made his way back to his room, all the while thinking about Willow.

x x x x x

"Hey, Harris!"

Xander looked up quickly as he walked into the Great Hall. A piece of toast was flying right towards Xander's head. He caught it in the knick of time and bit off a piece. The Hufflepuffs cheered as the entire hall gawked at them.

Xander took a seat by a depressed looking Buffy.

"What's wrong?" Xander asked as he buttered another piece of toast.

"Well two things, but since I can't do anything about Willow... Remus hasn't talked to me since... Xander?" Buffy paused and looked around. "You can't tell anybody, promise?"

"Promise." Xander stuffed the toast in his mouth.

"Remus is a werewolf," Buffy whispered. "And ever since I saw him he hasn't talked to me."

Xander nodded his head. "So?"

"Did you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"Werewolf. Y'know - remember Oz?"

"Yeah. Already knew about it."

"You did?" Buffy gasped as she saw Xander stuff another piece of toast in his mouth.

"Cordelia told me, but don't worry about it." Xander looked at Buffy - she was on the verge of tears. He couldn't take it. "Buff... you need to talk to him. Make him see that you don't care about that. Hell, you dated two vampires before him. You're technically not entirely human anyway. Explain things, y'know?"

"Yeah," Buffy smiled, while Xander breathed a sigh of relief. "You're the greatest Xander."

Xander smiled back at Buffy as she bounded away from the table. As Xander went back to eating, he thought he overheard Flitwick and Hagrid talking about McGonagall floating around shooting Cupid's arrows. Laughing to himself, Xander finished his breakfast in a much better mood.

x x x x x

"Harris!"

Xander whirled around to see Lupin standing at a door beckoning to him.

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk?" Lupin asked hesitantly.

"Course we can. Let's do the boy talk thing." There was a pause as Lupin gave Xander a funny look. "You know how girls have 'girl talk'... forget it."

Lupin shut the door behind Xander and motioned towards the chair. Xander sat down and waited for Lupin to do the same.

"This is about Buffy, isn't it?" Xander sat back and folded his hands together.

"I... well... yes."

"Knew it." Xander muttered. "So, she _knows_?"

"Yes, she saw me." Lupin placed his head in his hands.

Xander stood up, "Look here, sexpot. Go up to Buffy and just talk to her. You'll both feel a lot better."

"Talk to her?" Lupin looked through his hands. "That's all?"

"Yep, that's really all girls want to do. Get use to it," Xander patted Lupin on the shoulder. "I'll see ya."

x x x x x

Xander had been Xander-napped. Not that he cared.

About fifteen Hufflepuffs had taken Xander to one of the herbology gardens. They had said that Friday evenings were Hufflepuff Story Time. In recent years, the attendance to these meetings had declined rapidly, Xander learned, but they all had faith in him that he would make it well known again. The group of Hufflepuffs were mostly fifth years and up... which Xander thought rather odd... considering when he was their age, he wouldn't have been caught dead in something like this. However, Xander was told by a 6th year prefect (Angelica Bjorneski - Xander snorted every time he heard her name) that Helga Hufflepuff was who first started the meetings. He figured that it must be a special sort of storytelling... so it couldn't be that bad.

"You're first, Harris!" One of the students called out. All the students agreed.

"What kind of story?" Xander gulped slightly. He wasn't nervous, he just didn't know if he would do it right. Not that telling stories was hard. He had a lot of adventures to recall and tell... though, he figured those adventures might be a bit too scary.

"Whatever comes from inside," one of the younger students said, as she looked up at Xander with these huge blue eyes. Xander smiled at her and nodded his head.

"Alright," Xander tapped his fingers together. "Any of you been to Egypt?"

The Hufflepuffs all looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Well... I'll tell you about it. I went there over the summer."

"Oooooh!"

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "No matter where you went... the sand would follow. Sand, sand, everywhere... sand." Xander paused for added effect, which seemed to be working, as all the students were staring at him intently. "In Egypt, there are mummies. I had to find one mummy, named Anmophet, because he was one of the few cursed mummies still living. Well, as living as one can be who isn't living. Nevermind. Anyway... now Anmophet looked like he had fought a roll of toilet paper and lost. I think that that was what made him so moody too."

Xander heard a few snickers throughout the small crowd.

"I don't know if you guys know about this... but mummies are a lot like pirates. Mummies stash all their gold and jewels, but keep a treasure map so that in case they forget where they hid their stash. Though mummies hate pirates, considering that a lot of times pirates steal everything that a mummy has. Pissing said mummy really off. That's why a lot of mummies are trying out a new tactic and hiding their gold throughout many tombs, just to confuse the hell out'a the pirates."

"Is that why there is a lot of curses in Egypt?"

Xander looked blankly down at the group, then smiled, "Sure is! Mummies don't like it when their stuff gets stolen, because then they go slap crazy and insane and try to turn you into scarab dung."

"Did that happen to you?"

"Oh, yeah, that Anmophet mummy was one of those mummies who had been stolen from. He moped around a lot, crying about losing 'his precious metals,' then he'd go insane and try to have me toilet-papered like him..."

Xander paused as a bit of dust flew into his eye. He blinked and rubbed it out of his eye. He noticed that it was a piece of sand.

"Sorry about..." Xander noticed that the Hufflepuffs were not looking at him at all now. He squinted as part of the eye that the sand had flown into was beginning to go dark. Xander blinked some more, but when he opened his eyes he could only see out of one eye. Xander reached up to his eye and realized that he had a patch over his eye. Again.

Xander quickly turned around to see that Hogwarts had been changed into a large sandcastle. Xander's jaw dropped. He looked around to see Hagrid losing a fight to a toilet and becoming a mummy.

"BEHOLD!"

Xander looked up as a bright light came from above the new Hogwarts pyramid. A woman with a booming voice was flying around in a green cape and green suit. Xander saw that there was a large black 'T' on the front of the suit.

"I AM... THE TICKLER!"

Xander realized it was Cordelia.

"What the fu-"

Before Xander could finish the sentence, Cordelia landed in front of him. She held out her hands and wiggled her fingers.

"PREPARE TO BE... TICKLED!"

All the students looked from Xander to Cordelia and began to laugh.

"Argh!" Xander brandished his sword, then realizing that five seconds ago he didn't have a sword looked down. Sure enough, he had a sword in his hand, a peg leg, an eye patch... he reached up and felt a hat... and the squawking in his ear was obviously a parrot. "Argh...?"

Cordelia lunged at Xander, who quickly fell over from not being use to the entire wooden-leg ordeal. Cordelia laughed and poked Xander in the side as he was struggling to get up.

"Ye best be's careful, lass! I'll cut ye from navel to neck!"

"No one can harm... THE TICKLER!" Cordelia laughed and flew back up into the sky. She flew back down and began to tickle the students, who were all laughing hysterically.

"Xander? Friend with big sword... I am looking for the Wolf Man that I have a total crush on."

Pirate Xander whirled around to see Buffy in a frilly pink dress. She cocked her head to one side.

"Er... argh?" Xander looked at his parrot. "What say you, matey?"

"REAMP! CRACKER WANT A POLLY!"

Buffy walked forward and leaned in to take a good look at the parrot. "Hello Parrot. Have you seen my crushed-on Wolf Man?"

Xander saw a shadow flying overhead. He looked up; ready to defend himself from The Tickler, but saw that it was McGonagall. She had sprouted wings and had a bow and plenty of heart-shaped arrows.

"Hello, darlings!" she called down to the group of Hufflepuffs. She aimed at one of the eldest boys and let a heart arrow hit him in the arm. He turned to the girl next to him and began to kiss her passionately. The girl was thrown off-guard and tried to pull away but when another arrow hit her in the backside, she eagerly began to kiss back. "Just spreading the love, dearies!"

And with that, McGonagall floated towards Hagrid who was covered in toilet paper. Xander heard Hagrid shriek as McGonagall tried to take aim at him.

"Buffy... listen ter me, matey..." Xander wished that he didn't have to talk in the pirate accent. Hell, he wished he knew what the HELL was going on. "What's wrong wif ye?"

"I'm sorry, I do not understand your question. Please ask again later after I have been recharged. So, Xander, friend with sword and parrot, where is the sexy Wolf Man?" Xander realized that Buffy was not Buffy after all.

The Buffy-Bot? Xander wished that he would wake up, because this was one crazy ass dream.

"Here I am, doll." Xander looked up to see Lupin leaning against a tree. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "How about you and me take a walk and get to know each other... better."

The Buffy-Bot smiled and bounded towards what Xander could only describe as Lupin trying out the metrosexual look.

"REAMP! CRACKER WANT A PIECE OF THAT POLLY!"

Xander looked at the bird on his shoulder and shook his head. "Ye blast'd bird..."

"Double, double... I'm in trouble." Lupin called as the Buffy-Bot linked arms with him. "Let's go babe."

"Sexy Wolf Man... will you have animalistic sex with me?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way..."

Xander shakes his head, hoping to get the image that just flashed into his head out.

"REAMP!" The parrot that was on his shoulder began to flap its wings. It then flew after Lupin and the Buffy-Bot. "CRACKER WANTS TO WATCH! REAMP!"

"Xander!"

Xander whirled around, his sword in his hand.

"It's me, Ron!" Xander noticed the red-haired man and lowered his sword.

"I could'a cut ye, mate. Ye can't scare a pie-rat like tha'..." Xander sheathed his sword.

"You're doing all of this, mate," Ron took off Xander's hat. "I noticed something wasn't right when McGonagall tried to make me her love slave." Xander thought he saw Ron shudder slightly.

"I am?" Xander looked around. Snape was running around with a flashing green neon sign that read, '_I love SOS_ '. The sea creature in the lake was doing the Macarena with the mermaids. And all the owls were singing, "I Wanna Be Like You" from _Disney's The Jungle Book_.

"You just have to control it and it'll go away." Ron placed a hand on Xander's shoulder.

Xander could tell that things were going back to normal, as Hogwarts was no longer made of sand. Every thing around him was beginning to go back to the way it was.

There was a long moment of complete quiet on the grounds as every creature and wizard realized that the spell was gone. A few Hufflepuffs looked at Xander and began to clap.

"BLOODY BRILLIANT!"

"COOL!"

"MY MUM'LL BE JEALOUS! She never had anything like this during Story Time."

Xander grinned sheepishly. He looked at Ron. "Why weren't you affected?"

"I was outside of Hogwarts grounds and I came back to get Hermione. Who by the way was hopping around like a rabbit. She told me that she could tell who was making everything like this."

"Oh," Xander gulped. "Sorry."

"No, it was cool seeing Hermione jump around like a rabbit. Besides, there will be times when I'm laying in bed at night and see Snape with that sign over his head, and just laugh myself to sleep." Ron patted Xander on the shoulder. "Besides, I think Hufflepuffs really enjoyed what you had to offer, mate."

x x x x x

"Well, I hope that we won't have another one of these... incidents... here at Hogwarts again." McGonagall was standing straighter than usual, obviously embarrassed that she had been made a flying, female Cupid.

"No, McGonagall," Xander said with a sigh.

"Your feelings about Willow being gone created such magical power within you; that it finally just burst." She said as she handed Xander a plate of cookies. "Have a biscuit, Harris."

"Er, thanks." Xander took one.

"You need not worry about Willow. We have taken numerous cautions on her behalf." McGonagall sat down and took a cookie herself. "And, since you obviously have some sort of power, I think that a trip to Diagon Alley is in store for you, Mr. Harris."

"Weely?" Xander chewed up the cookie in his mouth and tried it again, "Really?"

"You need a wand so that you can contain that power of yours. I will pay for it myself; so that I won't have to chance to become... well..." She paused and took a bite of her cookie. "Nymphadora has asked to take you to Diagon Alley."

"Cool..." It didn't really register in Xander's brain until Tonks walked into the room.

"XANDER! You look great! Wow - you're eyes! You have two of them." Tonks gave Xander a huge hug. "Good thing I wasn't here to see some of the things I'm hearing in the halls. I would never stop laughing."

"Yeah..." Xander smiled. "So, when are we going?"

"Now, if you'd like!" Tonks exclaimed.

"Tonks has also offered to celebrate your American Thanksgiving at her house in Godric's Hollow. You can stay with her until then, if you'd like, and practice your magic." McGonagall said.

"What about Buffy and Cordy?" Xander asked.

"When Thanksgiving is close, they'll be sent over." McGonagall smiled.

Xander felt a lot better about the entire ordeal. Though he had no idea how he'd be able to face Cordelia and Buffy before he left. He figured he'd just write them after getting his wand to apologize. Besides, they'd probably both flog him to death if they saw him now.

x _chapter's end _x

After Thoughts: The most fun chapter... EVER to write! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Isn't Xan the man? Even though he's more depressed than anybody; he helps out others to make them feel better. How I love him. He's always been such a strong character.

Readeth and revieweth!

And if ANYBODY watches ABC's Lost... _((SOB))_ ... they killed off the love of my life! I rarely cry when I watch TV shows, but damn.

Look forward to Ch. 19 entitled:

Who Reads in the Library?

Cordelia gets a surprise. Buffy thinks things over.


	19. Who Reads in the Library?

_Disclaimer:_ Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. The story itself is my own ideas; I'm just borrowing a few characters that don't happen to be mine. Don't sue; I'm already broke enough as it is.

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 19

Who Reads in the Library?

x x x x x

Remus pulled a chair towards the desk he had picked in the library. He pulled out a book that he had just ordered from _Matilda's Musty Old Books and Things_ called _Stories of Magyk_. It was one of the older magic books that he could actually get his hands on in this crazy world.

As he flipped through the pages, he heard a soft gasp behind him. When he turned to look, he saw a few first years scuttle out of sight. Shrugging, Remus continued on with his reading. Just as he was getting comfortable, another sound distracted him.

And, here, I thought libraries were quiet.

When Remus looked up, he saw one person that he did not want to see. Of all people, Buffy had just walked into the library and had scared Madame Pince's cat, which was now hissing and spitting at everything. It wasn't that he didn't _want_ to see her... he was just too embarrassed by Xander's outburst of magical energy that had made him into a sex-a-holic. Had he been a few... no... ten years younger, he probably would not have minded so much. He probably would have found it hilarious back then...

Of course, he remembered, she too had been under the spell. So, maybe, Buffy wouldn't think too much of it.

"Remus!" Buffy shuffled towards him, the cat still having a fit at her heels.

"Miss Summers! Shh!" Madame Pince placed her finger to her mouth and glared at Buffy.

Buffy gave her a small smile, then turned her attention back to Remus. "Oops..."

"Making a grand entrance, I see," Remus nodded, trying not to seem too... what was the word? Entranced? Yes, that was a good word.

"My forte," Buffy joked as she pointed at the desk. "Can I sit?"

"Of course," Remus felt like his heart was going to explode it was going so fast.

Control... breathe... in and out...

"What are you reading?" Buffy watched as Remus twirled the book so that she could see the title. "Mmhmm... never been much of a reader, myself. But, reading suits you."

Oh, Merlin... what does that mean? She must find me terribly boring. Damn.

"Suits me?"

"Yes," Buffy looked perplexed. "It's... y'know... like Willow. Reading suits her, because she's Willow. I... don't think I'm explaining it right." There was a slight pause, and Remus wished he could mentally slap himself. "It's a good thing, though."

"Oh," Remus, not knowing what to do, went back to his book, even though he couldn't concentrate enough to read one word.

"Remus?"

"Yes, Buffy?"

"Can I... it's just... you're such a good person. I need to tell you something."

Remus looked at Buffy. Her blue eyes held fear behind them. He had seen that look in so many eyes, and if he could stop her from feeling that way... then he was up for the challenge.

"I'm listening;" Remus placed the book down. Maybe Xander was right... all women wanted to do was talk. Well, he'd talk. Or at least let Buffy do most of the talking.

"I... is there any place we can go?" Buffy looked around nervously. Remus stood up and nodded towards the back of the library.

"There are a few study rooms back here-"

"Good." Buffy followed Remus and looked over her shoulder to see Cordelia thumbing through a book. Cordelia was talking animatedly to someone that was hidden by the bookshelves...

x x x x x

"Want some tea, Xander?"

"No, thanks, Tonks!" Xander yelled into the back. He was slightly afraid that if he allowed her to make tea that she'd probably burn her hands, or _The Brewing Bog_ would be burned to the ground. And considering that he was living on the second floor until Thanksgiving, Xander thought he was better suited inside and not outside in the cold.

A few customers were actually inside the restaurant, which was odd, considering that the last time he had been here, not one chair had been occupied.

"Sonny!" A croaky voice called out to Xander. The man's voice suited him, Xander thought. He had green skin and bugged out eyes...

"Er... yeah?"

"Don't ye take tha' sort'a tone wif me, ye smarmy warmblooded... er... fwooper!" The man shook his green fist at Xander, and his long thin fingers looked slightly menacing as Xander drew nearer.

"Fwooper?" Xander mumbled under his breath. "Better than a bucked-toothed frog wanna-be..."

"Heh?"

"What do you need, pops?" Xander interrupted.

"Tell tha' Thongs that I'd like sommat tea..."

"It's Tonks... and we don't serve tea." Xander smiled and patted the man on the shoulder. "She's not all here sometimes, sir."

"Ye don' serve tea? What kind'a pub be this? Come on 'Erbie... less get the hell outta this place."

Xander watched as Frog Man hopped out with his rather normal looking wizard friend. He made his way upstairs and decided that he better send out his apology letters...

Buff -

Well, I'm with Tonks right now. McGonagall said that it might be better if I wasn't around Hogwarts right now. I kind of agreed with her, too. But - you and Cordy are invited for Thanksgiving here in Godric's Hollow. Nice town, but one too many toads.

Well, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for turning you into the Buffy Bot. I think ol' Lupin liked it though... I mean... he went all Casablanca or something like that. Maybe it was Rhett Butler, I dunno... I don't do the romance thing too well. Obviously.

Well - owl me back if you get a chance.

Miss you already,

Xander

Xander reread the letter. It seemed okay. Now he had to try and appease Cordelia through a letter. Which, if Xander might say, was going to be a hard feat to accomplish.

Cordy -

I'm sure you hate me right now, but that's okay. I just wanted to let you know that you looked great in that outfit though. And, you nearly tickled me to death, if I can remember correctly. So - it was a win/win situation.

I'm in Godric's Hollow with Nymphadora Tonks; she's a member of the Order. I don't know if you've met her yet. She's nice. And... she's invited you and Buffy over so we can have a decent Thanksgiving for once.

Don't try to get any of the teachers to hex me, please.

Xander

Xander nodded his head, and figured it was the best he could do. He folded up the pieces of parchment and handed it to the owl. She hooted softly and took off. Xander figured that when she came back that he'd send her off again with the other apologies...

Snape -  
Sorry. It was real funny, though.  
Harris

Lupin -  
Hey man, sorry for that. But, you were rather dashing!  
Xander

Hagrid -  
Sorry for having McGonagall chase you with her bows and arrows. You'll laugh about it one day...  
Xander

McGonagall -  
I know I've already said my apologies, but I just thought a written letter would make you feel better. So...  
Sorry!  
Xander

Hermione -  
Ron told me you were hopping around like a rabbit. Just wanted to say I'm sorry if I caused your feet any pain.  
Xander

Ron -  
Thanks for the help. Being a pirate isn't all that grand.  
Xander

x x x x x

Cordelia glared at Snape as she took a seat. "What a dumbass question."

"Chase, you are being completely foolish. I only meant-"

"Doesn't matter... you're being stupid." Cordelia went back to her book as Madame Pince shot her a look.

"I'm not going to fight with you," Snape sat down in the chair beside her. Cordelia flipped through the pages, too fast to really be reading. "You're making a bigger scene than what is necessary."

"You were the one that started it!"

"Fine," Snape stood up quickly and flared out his robes. "I'm going to warn you though... Cordelia?"

Cordelia had fell from the chair to the floor, clutching her head...

x x x

_"Hey!" Cordelia yelled into the white nothing-ness. "HEY!"_

_"No need to shout."_

_Cordelia whirled around. "Gabriel!"_

_"Yes."_

_"What...?"_

_"I have a message for you." Gabriel paused. Cordelia tapped her foot anxiously._

_"Well... spit it out."_

_"Your visions are having a hard time getting through, Cordelia."_

_Cordelia could only see Gabriel's face and hands, as the rest of his body was also covered in complete white, just like the surrounding space._

_"Oh, really?" Cordelia clapped her hands together in false happiness. "I already knew that, thank you very much. Tell God he's slacking off."_

_"Now, now..."_

_"Oh, shut up, you know that wasn't blasphemous." Cordelia folded her arms._

_"It very well could be." Gabriel smiled at Cordelia._

_"So ... anything else? Or are you just going to let me stay passed out back there?"_

_"We're sending visions, but something somewhere has put up a force field around you."_

_"Well, you're a higher power. Smash it." Cordelia said in a monotone voice._

_"If we did... you would... die."_

_"I'm already dead."_

_"Yes, but you'd die... again. And it would be painful." Gabriel looked worried._

_Cordelia said nothing and looked around. "What do you want me to do?"_

_"You know the other visions you were given?"_

_"Yes - I've written them all down." Cordelia nodded._

_"Use those to help, until the bubble around you is gone." Gabriel then vanished with no other word._

_"Goodbye to you too," Cordelia muttered._

x x x

"Cordelia?"

Cordelia's eyes fluttered open as she saw Snape's face only an inch from hers. She stared blankly for a moment and then pushed him out of her way.

"Get off me," she muttered.

"Let me take you to Pomfrey. What happened?"

"I'm fine... it was only a white out."

x x x x x

"Buffy?"

Buffy shook her head. Was she really going to tell him... something she hadn't told anybody. Not even Willow or Xander or Cordelia knew. They probably thought something was up, but it didn't really hit them, like it had her.

"I need to tell somebody this, because right now I don't think the guys would understand." Buffy took in a deep breath. "I'm a Slayer... or I was. Where I'm from, the Slayer has all these magical powers to defeat evil. Not the magic that you use, but it's still magic. It's like being super-human. I heal faster, I have super strength, super senses... all that stuff. But, ever since I came here... it's... well. I haven't been super-human."

Buffy rolled up her sleeve and showed Remus a cut on her arm. "I've had this ever since you cut me with your ... er ... claws."

Remus looked upset. "Don't worry - I've had much worse than this. But that's not the point." Buffy covered the cut back up. "See - that cut should have been gone the morning after. But, now it's going to be a scar, because the magic isn't there."

Remus nodded his head. "Maybe when you _fell_ through the portal," he smiled slightly, remembering her falling right in the middle of his class. "Your magic was lost when you traveled through the portal."

"Yeah, but that night I still felt it in me, it wasn't until I woke up with like fifty teachers around me that I felt funny." Buffy sighed.

"You'll just have to be careful and not go looking for trouble, Buffy." Remus placed a hand on her shoulder. He noticed a smile and felt a pang in his stomach. It definitely wasn't hunger.

"After seven years of slaying..." she shook her head.

"Maybe you are going to help our cause in a different way." Remus assured her. He was certain that she was not just going to be a bump on a log. Her personality alone said that about her.

"Thank you for listening," Buffy shrugged. "I guess I need to let the guys know, huh?"

"It would be for the best," Remus agreed. "But, you should wait until you are all ready to know. I dare say, from what all you've told me it will be quite a shock to them all."

x x x x x

As soon as Cordelia had gotten rid of Snape, she thought that she'd continue her reading. She hated to be mean to him, but he was like a puppy... following her everywhere she went. And, after her Super Hero display, she felt like the old Queen C Bitch needed to reappear for a little while. Nobody was going to make fun of her... absolutely not.

"There you are."

Cordelia looked up from the book she was reading.

My God! Nobody can read a damn thing in this damn library!

Students in the library all gasped at the haggard appearance of the intruder. The girl's eyes were blank, her hair greasy, and she had a tattered brown dress. Cordelia thought that somebody needed to take a trip to the mall and obtain a new wardrobe.

The girl, who couldn't have been older than seventeen, rushed at Cordelia. That's when Cordelia noticed the girl's eyes were black and fathomless...

Cordelia stood up quickly; not knowing what to do, but dead set on making sure that the girl didn't hurt anybody.

"Die now, Seer!" The girl held up a broken piece of a mirror as she ran and reflected the light from the chandeliers onto Cordelia's face. In the very next instant, a ring of blue fire erupted around Cordelia, catching her robes on fire.

x _chapter's end _x

_After Thoughts:_ I'm so horribly evil, aren't I? Cliffhanger... I know.

OMG - I have the Author Warm and Fuzzies! loffs them I found my story in a C2 Community by Dingoes Groupie. loffs you and whoever put my story there That was a nice gift after a hard day of work. WOOH!

_Food for Your Thoughts: _I wish Snape would just leave Cordelia alone. Though, he doesn't seem to want to. Hmm... something fishy must be going on, eh?

And, yes, I changed my name to Ink Splash. I wanted Ink Blot... but someone TOOK that already. Darn them. wink

Read and review, please and thanks!

Look forward to Ch. 20 entitled:

Thanks and Giving

The American ways of Thanksgiving.


	20. Thanks and Giving

__

Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 20

Thanks and Giving

x x x x x

Cordelia blinked as a certain ray of sunshine kept following her. It didn't matter which way she turned; it always found a way back to her eyes. She had asked Poppy to close the window, but she said that sunlight would be good for all the patients in the Hospital Wing. Cordelia had seen the other patients - and from that, Cordelia had gathered that Poppy was insane.

One girl had swarms of 'Bat-Bogeys' whizzing around her head. The sunlight just made them attack more. And this one Ravenclaw boy, whom Cordelia knew as Bingham Colt, had accidentally been blasted by a shining spell of some sorts. His face would glow even brighter when the sunlight hit him. And, then there was Cordelia. She had had a few burns on her legs and her hands from some fire attack, but Poppy had given her a potion and the next day the pain had subsided, but the ugly scars were still there. Poppy said that it would take them about a week to heal up, and then finally disappear.

Cordelia was just happy that she wouldn't be scarred for life...

x x x x x

"The Letum Essum is in the dungeons, Minerva." Remus Lupin nodded his head at the Headmistress as she bustled around her office. She didn't say anything, but Remus knew that the wheels upstairs were cranking. "The piece of mirror that she had was smashed. So, it wasn't a piece of Rowena's."

"Thank you, Remus." McGonagall sat down at her desk and rubbed her temples. "Flitwick ran tests, I presume?"

"Yes, he did," Remus sat in one of McGonagall's many chairs and began to wring his hands. "Just a bewitched shard of glass."

McGonagall said nothing, allowing the silence to fill the room. A few of the previous Head's portraits in the room would whisper here and there to each other, breaking the silence only for a few moments.

"Will you deal with the girl?" McGonagall looked up and then glanced over at the orb lying in the corner. "I have to ... well ... fill in a few Order members."

"Yes-"

"And tell Severus to bind her to the castle so that she cannot leave," McGonagall interrupted with a wave of her hand.

"I will," Remus quickly left the Headmistress's office and hurried down to a secret passage that he knew led straight down to the dungeons. He tapped the middle of a green tapestry three times and the tapestry lifted up revealing a hidden pathway.

"Ah, Remus. How is my favorite... wolf?"

Turning around, Remus came face to face with Snape. Ignoring the last comment, Remus nodded his head, "There you are."

"Taking a shortcut are we?" Snape crossed his arms and then glanced over at the revealed passage.

"To see you," Remus nodded. "McGonagall wants you to bind the Letum Essum girl to the castle."

Snape looked surprised. "That's a particularly hard form... does she understand that it will take at least a day or two?"

"I'm assuming she does," Remus shook his head. "Well, must be off."

Remus turned quickly away and hurried into the passageway. With a quick flick of his wand he closed the opening behind him, knowing that Snape would have no idea how to open it again, even if he really wanted to.

"Lumos," Remus whispered as he took the darkened staircase to his left, instead of the rope to his right. The rope, he knew, would only give him rope burn... while the stairs were quicker and less painful. He finally came to the bottom of the stairs, nearly running straight into a wall. Pushing on the wall, Remus heard the cracking of stone as the wall broke apart.

There was a gasp from the room on the other side, as the wall crumbled and shifted.

"It's all right;" Remus called out as he held up his hands, to show that he meant no harm. A few Slytherin students stared at him in awe.

"Bloody brilliant!" One of the younger Slytherins called out. Some agreed, but a few just glared at Remus in disgust.

Quickly leaving the small room, he entered into one of the hallways that would lead him to the dungeons where the Letum Essum was held. As he pushed the heavy door open, there was a shriek of pain.

Remus looked quickly around and noticed that a cord was attached to the doorknob. Following the cord with his eyes, he saw that the other end of the cord was hooked into flesh.

"The man of the hour," a husky voice spoke from the far corner of the room. "Come to rescue me, have you?"

Remus shut the door behind him and twirled his wand in his hand. He tried not to look at the widening wound in her arm, where the hook had been placed. He figured it was there for a reason and that he had no right ro remove it.

"Oh, that's right... not a man entirely, are we?" There was a slight pause where her eyes flashed for only a moment. "Lupin?"

"I suppose you think that I would be flattered that you would know of me." Remus walked a few steps forward, his wand held at the ready.

"Oh, I know a lot about you," the girl whispered as if the walls were listening. "I've watched you. Studied you, even."

Remus didn't know what to say. He looked at her for a moment, daring her to speak again so that he could perhaps open the door. With a sudden jolt at his own thoughts, Remus looked down in shock at his readiness to harm her. Even though the girl in front of him probably deserved it, he didn't understand how hot anger had made him want to cause more bodily harm.

"You can be flattered now."

"Hardly," Remus found his wits and made sure that his wand was still ready for action. Just in case. "Since you obviously know a lot about me-"

"In fact," the girl carried on as if Remus hadn't spoke at all, "I know that you need only to release me and you will be rewarded beyond your dreams. No more scraping to get a job, because of those pesky half-breed laws. The world is waiting for you, if only you take these restraints off of me. Dolohov will give you _everything_ you could ever desire."

Remus blinked. She was not serious? She was trying to get him to join Dolohov. Well, that was a laugh.

"You're asking _me_ to release you?" Remus locked eyes with the girl.

"And lead me out of here, unscathed," the girl's head lowered, her eyes looking up from him in the darkness.

Remus smiled and shook his head, "You obviously got in here without any detection, I'm sure you could do it all again." He paused and poked her in the arm with his wand. "Without my help."

"Oh, Remus," the girl laughed again. "I can't go back the way I came. That little man... what was his name? Flee-mick? No... Fick-wit?" She shrugged. "His name is of little importance. _He _took my mirror away..."

"You came through a mirror?"

There was another pause where the girl smiled up at him and made a motion to show that she was not going to be speaking anymore. Remus sighed and turned on his heels. He looked back at the girl, and even though he knew he would make himself sick for doing this, he opened the door as far as it would go. Then he quickly walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

x x x x x

Remus could still hear the screams as he left the dungeons. As he walked, he decided that a visit to see Cordelia would calm him slightly. Before he knew it, Remus found himself in the Hospital Wing. Poppy bustled at his side and nodded her head to show that she noticed him.

"Remus!" A voice came from the back of the hall.

"Buffy." Remus moved slowly, the Letum Essum still on his mind.

Buffy stood up as he moved closer. "Looks like Cordy's gonna be okay."

Remus looked into her bright blue eyes and smiled, "Fantastic."

"Yep," Cordelia sat up in her bed and folded her bandaged hands in her lap. "I heard you were going down to the dungeons for some serious Order work."

Remus wished she hadn't mentioned the dungeons, but kept his thoughts to himself. Buffy and Cordelia did not need to be worried by such things.

"I hope that girl is in _lots_ of pain," Cordelia muttered, interrupting his thoughts.

"Me too." Buffy's robes were a nice shade of purple today. Lilac, it looked like.

Remus still didn't feel like answering so he just nodded his head in agreement.

"So, did you get anything out of her?" Buffy continued, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Tried to get me to convert, I dare say." Remus shrugged.

"To the Tribe of Freak Nasty?" Cordelia's eyes widened as she squinted her nose.

"Er-" Remus had no idea what she had just said.

"She means... to the Death Eaters." Buffy laughed. It was such a beautiful laugh.

"Well, I just wanted to see how you were Cordelia," Remus huffed nervously. "And since you are doing quite well, I will head back to the lilac... er... office, I mean."

Remus nodded to them both, trying to keep his embarrassment hidden, and quickly hurried out of the Hospital Wing. He didn't know that you could go through two such huge emotions in the matter of minutes...

x x x x x

"He likes you," Cordelia settled back down into her pillow as soon as Lupin got out of earshot.

"No," Buffy shook her head. Sitting back down on Cordelia bed, she looked up hopefully, "Do you think so?"

"Uh, yeah." Cordelia smiled. "And... I think you're a little... taken... yourself."

Buffy inhaled and laughed uneasily.

"Mail!" Poppy bustled over to Cordelia and Buffy and handed them both a letter.

They both thanked her and ripped open the letter.

"It's from Xander," they said at the same time.

"He's invited us for Thanksgiving," Cordelia noticed. She looked at Buffy, then at Madame Pomfrey. "Don't think I'll be allowed to go."

"Sure you will. Watch." Buffy stood up and hurried over to Poppy.

Cordelia couldn't hear what they were saying, but by the smiles, she figured it was going to be okay. They were going to be having Thanksgiving in Godric's Hollow.

x x x x x

It had taken them a while to get to Godric's Hollow. Flitwick had given them a rather slow moving carriage to get them safely to where Xander had informed them the Thanksgiving celebrations would commence.

They stepped out of the carriage and noticed the two-story building in front of them. It wasn't old, but it sure did not look very welcoming.

"Should we knock?" Buffy looked at the eerily creaking sign that hung to her immediate left.

__

The Brewing Bog

Cordelia limped beside her friend. It only hurt slightly when she moved around a lot, but she was just glad to get out into the fresh air. "I dunno," she shrugged and sighed deeply. "Looks deserted."

"I know," Buffy raised her hand to the door to knock, but the door opened as if it had a mind of its own.

"Buffy!"

Cordelia watched as an orange-headed witch hopped out from behind the door, hugging Buffy.

"And you must be Cordelia!" Cordelia moved her sore hands out of the way quickly as the witch pounced on her next. "I'm Tonks."

"Nice to meet you," Cordelia beamed.

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

Cordelia and Buffy both looked up to see Xander wearing a gourd on his head. Cordelia giggled and Buffy laughed out loud.

"Oh, no," Buffy shook her head. "Fashion No-No."

"Too bad, I made you both one!" Xander exclaimed as he placed one on Cordelia and then another one on Buffy. "Tonks thought it was a good idea."

As Buffy and Cordelia stepped inside the building, they noticed that on the inside it was very nice and homey. They both couldn't help but smile as they saw all the great food laid out on a large round table.

"Look at all the food," Cordelia licked her lips hungrily.

Xander looked at Cordelia's bandaged hand, then noticed her limp and immediately came to her aid. "What happened?"

"Oh, pfft," Cordelia waved him away with her hand. "I'm fine."

"One of those Letum Essum came into Hogwarts and cast a fire spell on her." Buffy informed Xander.

"What?" Xander looked outraged. "And nobody could owl me? I would have... somehow... gotten there and beat this dude to a ... what?"

"Girl," Buffy corrected.

"Most Letum Essum are female," Tonks nodded her head. "Occasionally there are males."

"Is there a reason for that?" Xander helped Cordelia to her chair, and then took his seat at the head of the table. He didn't care that it was a round table - he was technically at the head.

"We think it's just a coincidence," Tonks also took her seat.

"Let's not talk about this war," Buffy interrupted quickly. She sat down and looked at the three people in front of her. "I don't want it to interfere with our thanks and giving."

"Is that why it's called Thanksgiving?" Tonks looked at the huge turkey in front of her. "Xander could never quite explain it to me. He kept talking about Native Americans and people from the Mayberry."

"Mayflower. Mayberry is where Andy Griffith and Barney Fife are from." Xander patted Tonks on the shoulder. "I thought I said that it's just a time of year to be thankful for what you have."

"Why didn't you just say that, then?" Tonks asked incredulously.

"Let's not argue," Cordelia huffed. "Let's go around the table and say what we're all thankful for."

"That's a good - owl?"

"Huh?" Buffy looked at Xander, who was looking at the window. A brown owl was sitting on the window sill and had a small package in its beak. It flew to Tonks, then dropped it down in her lap. The owl looked at them all, then looked at the food. Tonks gave it a piece of turkey and the owl hooted happily and took off again.

"It's for you, Xander." Tonks handed the parcel to Xander, who quickly opened it.

"Oh, my God." Xander stared at the sheet of paper. "It's from Willow."

"What does it say?" Buffy stood up quickly and hurried behind Xander.

Cordelia stood up then realized that her legs wouldn't allow her to move quick enough, so she sat back down. "Read it out loud!"

"I can't," Xander shook his head.

"I knew you were stupid, but I thought you could at least read," Cordelia shook her head disapprovingly.

"It's blank," Buffy showed Cordelia the front and back of the letter. "All it has is her signature."

"Looks like she just wanted to let you all know that she's okay and that she's thinking of you;" Tonks patted Xander on the back.

After a few seconds of silence, Buffy went back to her seat and they all decided it was high time to eat. "We can tell each other what we're thankful for, while we eat, can't we?"

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "No need to let the food get cold."

Right before they could dig in, a loud knock came at the door. Tonks stood up quickly muttering something about rude neighbors. They all watched her as she moved to the door. Before Tonks could reach the door, it burst open and a rather green witch came into view. She shrieked rather loud and pointed a green, gnarled hand at Xander.

"Fresh meat!"

Xander stood up, knocking his chair to the floor. He looked around quickly, not knowing what to do.

__

Why do they always want to eat me?

"Attack Monstrosity, attack!" The witch's shriek echoed in the room. A large black cat appeared at the witch's command and ran for Tonks, it's teeth were bared and its claws were a force to be reckoned with.

Tonks took out her wand and pointed it at the attacking cat, "Sars Incisordre!" A small ray of yellow light hit the cat and the cat began to hiss. The next second it was hopping around with over-sized bunny ears and bear claws attached to all four of its feet.

"Oh, dear," Tonks placed her hand to her mouth in shock. "I never was very good in Transfiguration."

"Monstrosity... the man... take the man!"

Xander, ripping his gaze away from the mutant rabbit, saw the green spectacle coming towards him. He grabbed the closest thing to him, a large pan of macaroni and cheese, and chunked it at the witch.

"Argh... cheese!" The witch screamed in agony and ran quickly out of the room, as the hot dish dripped all over her. The mutated rabbit barked at Xander, then ran out the door; but they could still hear the witch's screams. "CHEEEEEEEEESE!"

They all looked at each other in complete shock. Xander picked his chair up and sat down with a confused look on his face.

"Just a hag. They like to eat young men." Tonks said as she shut the door, as if what just happened was a normal occurrence. "Take it as a compliment, Xander."

There was no talking for the next couple of minutes as they all settled down and finally began to eat their Thanksgiving meal.

"Dammit Xander!" Cordelia placed her knife down with a clank.

"What?" Xander was slightly surprised at Cordelia's outburst and that she had broken the silence.

"Why didn't you throw the yams?"

Xander blinked. "What?"

"I was craving macaroni." Buffy huffed as she moved the turkey and dressing in her plate with her fork.

"Go lick it off the witch!" Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing. Surely it was all a joke. Either that... or PMS. "I'm sure _she_ won't mind. You ungrateful ingrates!"

"We really must celebrate Thanksgiving every year, I rather enjoy it!" Tonks cheeriness made Xander forget his sudden anger.

It was - after all - Thanksgiving.

x _chapter's end _x

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After Thoughts: Someone (AKA : My younger sister.) uploaded this chapter before it was finished. Thus, the skipping around with no real cause. So - this is the COMPLETED chapter. There wasn't a lot that needed to be fixed, but I hate the fact that something that wasn't my best found its way for someone to read. So, if you're reading this little paragraph, you have nothing to worry about, since you didn't see the bad version. If you reread chapter 20... yes, it's not a lot that was changed (mostly just the Lupin stuff)... but I think it flows better now.

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Food for Your Thoughts: Ooh... you finally glimpse at the notorious Letum Essum. Crazy and evil, wasn't she? Fun stuff, I dare say. Oh, and the green hag was not a Death Eater or anything... just some random hag who could smell Xander and thought she might be in for a treat. Just in case anybody was wondering.

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Thanks :

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Slinky-and-the-BloodyWands : Yes - I am an evil author. And, YOU need to update The Necromancer soon, before I go bezerk and make every chapter end on a cliffhanger... so there! ;) But, yeah, thanks for the review and all the other ones as well!

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IsiwaruOfCkaloatia : Yeah, robes on fire suck. Sucks more how exactly that L.E. got into the castle... ooh... (mysterious music) Thanks for all your reviews!

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Hoosier Daddy : Oh the Cordy/Snape stuff... they might grow closer. Perhaps. But, let's just say that it's not all natural. And... I love Buffy and Remus together... I'm glad you are on the same page as I am. Thanks so much for your review!

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Zantac the Barbarian : I'm glad you'd let me know if TLG ever went astray. In fact, I'd WANT someone to point that out to me. Thanks for keeping with the story... I was beginning to wonder where you had gone... Thanks for your reviews!

Anna, William Fakespeare, Mama T, Brutal2003, Morena Evensong, FrozenTearz1990, Vld, Tigerfanfrv, Tilly, WhiteWolf 3, SnowySilver, clcountry, Gylzgurl, Louie Pastiche...

And all the other readers out there that don't leave reviews. You know who you are... and I thank you all too.

Look forward to Ch. 21 entitled:

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Let it Snow, Snow, Snow

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Harry, Ron, and Hermione together again.


	21. Let It Snow, Snow, Snow

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 21

Let it Snow, Snow, Snow

Hermione smiled to herself as Ron grasped her hand. She loved the feeling when their fingers were intertwined. It made her feel complete.

"What're you thinking about?" Ron smirked at Hermione. The snow had just begun to fall and they had decided to take the opportunity to walk the grounds. He had remembered Hermione saying something about falling snow being romantic. He didn't understand why... it was just a bunch of white flakes floating to the ground.

"You," Hermione stated plainly. She smiled and kicked a bit of snow from her shoe.

"About how ruggedly handsome, I am."

"Of course." Hermione giggled and sighed.

"Oh, what is it now?" Hermione could hear the slight bit of fear in Ron's voice. That was something that Hermione did find slightly tiring about Ron. Any time that they would talk about their relationship, he would rather die of a lethifold attack than just talk like to normal wizards in love.

"Nothing." Hermione shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

They were silent for a few minutes, until finally Ron spoke. "Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it... wrong... that I keep thinking about our seventh year?" Hermione looked up into Ron's face. It was full of pain. "I mean, we didn't accomplish anything. Dolohov just took over after Harry beat V-V-"

"Oh, for heaven's sake Ron! Voldemort!" Hermione still couldn't understand why so many wizards couldn't say Voldemort. She figured the looming shadow of Voldemort was going to stay over all of wizard kind.

"Yeah, him." Ron muttered. "I mean; so many lives have been taken."

"I know," Hermione agreed with a whisper. "It's hard to get past those things."

"Do you think about it?" Ron strengthened his hold on Hermione's hand.

"I dream about it, mostly. I see that green light head straight for Neville every time... and then I wake up as soon as he falls." Hermione shook the thought out of her head.

"I just wonder if his death was in vain."

"We can't live through the past, Ron." Hermione raised her voice, slightly. She didn't want to seem bossy, but it seemed the only possible way to get Ron's thoughts away from the past. "We have to focus on the task at hand. We have to help Harry."

"I know," Ron nodded in agreement.

Hermione knew that Ron thought she was right. And that was the end of that matter.

x x x x x

Harry finished scribbling a few more notes for Nigel Isler to pick up later. He thought that Nigel ought to know all about what was going on... just in case he didn't know what was going on.

After finishing the last sentence, he placed the quill on the bench beside him and looked up. He had been this close to the Veil many times. And no matter what the reason behind his coming to the Veil, he would always think back to his fifth year when his godfather had passed through the same veil.

Standing up, Harry walked slowly towards the center of the room. He stepped up onto the dais and paused. Harry heard a few whispers that he couldn't make out, but as he walked closer, the whispers began to clear.

"Come to us."

"Walk with us."

"Sirius is with us."

"Harry you must meet with him."

Harry nodded his head. He would meet with his godfather! After all these years with no word... he would finally be able to talk with Sirius again. A smile crept on his lips as he pulled the curtain to one side and stepped into darkness.

Harry opened his eyes and gasped for breath. It wasn't the first time that he had had that very dream. The voices would call to him and he would walk into the darkness. He usually would drink a bit of potion to keep the dreams from coming to him in his sleep, but on the nights where he forgot... or the times when he would drift off during the day... he would find himself in front of the Veil. Of course, there were the occasional dreams of Voldemort and his parents, but they were few and far between the Veil dreams.

Harry sat up and rubbed his temples. The headache was immense, but he had them so often, that it was merely a blip on the radar of "What's Wrong With Harry Potter." He threw the covers off of his legs and reached for his glasses.

Knowing that a glass of water was the best thing for a late night rendezvous with the kitchen; he got out of bed quickly. As he passed the small red orb; he realized that he had a message waiting for him.

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Noos nruter lliw ehs. You will be needed at Hogwarts.

Harry realized immediately that it was from Hermione. She always had a small flourish over her I's that made it easy to see which messages were sent by her. He smiled. Of course he would be needed at Hogwarts. The leader of the fight against Dolohov would have to be there when she arrived. Harry didn't realize how quickly December had snuck up on him.

x x x x x

Harry had apparated just outside of Hogwarts and then had decided that he needed the walk through the snow to clear some of his mind. As he passed the gates, the looming fortress of Hogwarts welcomed him with a glittering gleam of white and stone.

Harry had almost reached the castle, when he heard voices close to where he was. The falling snowflakes were growing large by the second; so Harry had to get closer to see exactly who was making all the noise.

"Ron!"

As a grin spread on his face, he saw his two best friends trying to make their way through what Harry could only describe as a blizzard.

"It was _you_ who wanted to walk in the snow... HERMIONE!"

"Oh, grow up!"

Harry squinted through the swirling snow and decided to surprise his friends.

"Look!" Ron began to yell at the top of his lungs. "WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS ACTING LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING?"

"Because I do!" Hermione shouted back, though not as loudly. "You weren't made Head Girl, were you?"

"I SHOULD HOPE NOT!" Ron screamed over the wind. "Dad would've fainted if he found out that I'd been named Head GIRL, Hermi-OW!"

"Ron, wha-HEY!"

They had both just been hit by enormous snowballs. Hermione yanked out her wand, ready for the person to show himself or herself so that she could turn them into a frog with lovely pink eyes. She noticed that Ron had also pulled out his wand.

"Come out!" Ron threatened, his wand high in the air.

"Ha!" Harry laughed out loud and revealed himself. "Going to hex a friend, old man?"

"Harry!" Ron yelled over the wind, he began to push through the snow that was beginning to accumulate even faster than before. Ron placed his wand away.

"Harry!" Hermione ran ahead of Ron and gave Harry a large hug. "I see you got my message."

"At one o'clock in the morning," Harry winked.

"You said to send them whenever I wanted," Hermione retorted with a slight smile.

"Oh, shut up, Hermione," Ron patted his friend on the back. "Glad to see you, mate. Really I am." The three friends paused for a moment, in the snow and smiled at each other. "How about we go inside to warm up?"

x x x x x

x _chapter's end _x

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After Thoughts: Yes, it was a short chapter. And, yes, it did take me forever to write a short chapter. But, hey, the next chapter might be the longest I have ever written... so there! It follows the Lost way of telling stories... through Flashbacks. Wooh!

If you read, please review! Thanks!

Look forward to Ch. 22 entitled:

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Under the Whomping Willow

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An old friend returns.


	22. Under the Whomping Willow

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Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 22

Under the Whomping Willow

x x x x x

Willow blinked as a piece of her hair fell into her eyes. It was all she could do to not "break ranks" and move the hair out of her eyes. After all, it was considered extremely rude to move during the ceremonies.

"... the girl. Has she returned?"

Willow knew that voice by heart. Antonin Dolohov. Her new... _master_. It had been extremely confusing to her how she had been inducted so quickly. Even McGonagall had told her that it would probably take a little while for everyone to trust her. But, she had gotten in on Draco Malfoy's word of honor - and that little incident where she had slipped up and did some magic without a wand... but that was another matter - and from the moment she had been in her first Death Eater meeting, she had known exactly how powerful Draco Malfoy was. Willow was surprised that Malfoy wasn't running the show or that the wizarding world would call the Death Eaters the... Malfolov Tribe... or something.

"The Letum Essum, sir?" Willow heard Draco's voice answer.

"Yes. Her name?" Dolohov sounded annoyed.

"Victoria."

Willow had been one of the first people to have known about the Letum Essum girl. She was to go to Hogwarts and...

"Yes, I see. Well - she must be brought back to me." Dolohov sighed as Willow shook her head clear of thoughts. She always had a hard time of not thinking, especially around all of the Death Eaters.

"She failed, sir!" Malfoy's words echoed off the walls. "Why bring her back? Let her rot in the castle dungeons."

"I have something better planned for her failure, Malfoy." Dolohov's words seemed to tell Willow that Victoria would not be alive for very much longer. "And I will need to have someone bring her back to me. Are you all too cowardly to breech Hogwarts?"

Willow blinked again. Half because of her hair still in her eyes, and half because a chance had just jumped out to her. McGonagall had told her that if she ever got the chance, that she would need to try and make it back before Christmas.

"I will bring her back, my Lord." Willow spoke out loud, but kept her head down. "I am not afraid."

x x x x x

"I can't believe you."

"What?" Willow looked over at Draco. He looked... confused. Willow smiled.

"You have nothing to prove," Draco began as he crossed the room. "Dolohov already knows of your loyalty. You have showed your merit... more-so than many of the others." He placed his hand on her cheek.

Willow brushed his hand away. "I'm still going."

"Then I'm going with you," Draco insisted.

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He obviously doesn't get hints when they are smacking him in the face, Willow thought.

"No!" Willow was surprised by her outburst. "I mean... er... no... you see... what if we're _both_ caught?"

Draco shrugged and sat down on her bed. "At least you wouldn't be alone."

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Grade A Lesbian here. Doesn't care for male companionship... unless it's Xander Harris. And that's purely platonic. Willow huffed as she thought.

"It's better if I go alone. You'd slow me down, you know." Willow smiled and gave him a knowing look.

"Fine," Malfoy shook his head. "You must return quickly... as soon as you have freed the Victoria girl... don't take your time. I'm sure Potter is just waiting for someone like you to show up..."

"I'll be fine," Willow shrugged. "I can handle it."

x x x x x

"I thought Thanksgiving was fantastic. I mean, how many parties get crashed by the Wicked Witch of the West and her cat?" Xander smiled at Buffy.

"The Wicked Witch of the West didn't have a cat." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "She had flying monkeys. Didn't you ever see the movie?"

"I did better... I read the book. No ruby slippers, you know." Xander puffed out his chest.

"Guys..." Buffy warned.

"Yeah, yeah, Buffy..." Xander held up his hands in mock defeat. "I know - HEY! Watch where you're going!" Xander looked in front of him and noticed Harry fiddling with his glasses. "Don't you look when you're walking?"

"Good to see you too," Harry said facetiously.

"Harry," Buffy began. "Why are you here?"

"I'm expecting a bit of a _surprise_." Harry said mystically as he wiggled his fingers. He laughed a little and continued on his way. "I'll see you guys later."

"He's so weird." Buffy cocked an eyebrow and followed Harry with her eyes. "Almost got you beat, Xander."

"No... I'm still the King of Weirdos." Xander nodded his head. "All bow before me and become weird."

"Wonder what the surprise is?" Cordelia asked out loud.

"Way to _not _join in on the conversation, there, Cordy." Xander joked.

Buffy faced Cordelia as she ignored Xander. "I know... could be like an early Christmas surprise."

"Maybe," Cordelia shrugged and continued walking. "Come on guys... lets go."

x x x x x

Willow held out a large piece of glass in front of her. She didn't know exactly how a piece of glass was going to take her to Hogwarts, but she wasn't going to ask Dolohov...

"_Inverte reflecte_." Dolohov's words seemed to float in the air, reverberating.

Willow felt the glass in her hand grow warm. Looking down, she noticed that it seemed to have turned into a silver liquid and had begun to spread all over her body. Before she could think of what might be happening to her, she noticed that she was at the foot of a tree. Willow looked up and saw that she was within Hogwarts grounds.

Willow wished that she had thought to bring a coat. The wintry weather was definitely not one of her favorite things. Willow held her hands out in front of her and mumbled a few words, in moments she felt a warming sensation protect her from the cold. She sighed in relief and noticed that the mirror that she had been holding before the trip was now at her feet.

__

Must be how I get back, she thought.

At that moment, Willow heard a groaning sound. She looked all around her and noticed nothing but white covered in extra white. The groaning then started to sound more like snaps and the splintering of wood. Willow looked up and saw that the tree that she was standing under was rearing back to strike. One branch came swinging from nowhere and knocked her down. When she got over the shock of being hit by a tree, Willow realized that another branch was heading her way. She held up her hands and the tree stopped mid-swing.

"No so threatening now, huh?" Willow rolled her eyes and pushed herself out of the snow. "Big Scary Tree of Snowy Doom..."

"Yer mean the Whompin' Willow?"

Willow whirled around and noticed a large black shape against the white snow. "Er... oh... hi." She then placed her hands behind her back guiltily, hoping he hadn't seen her use non-wand magic. "Just came to-"

"See McGonagall." Hagrid smiled at Willow and motioned with one of his large hands. "Follow me."

x x x x x

x0x0x

Willow pulled the cloak over her head as the mass of other cloaked figures began to slowly move towards her.

"Only death shall part you from my services."

Willow listened to the raspy voice of Dolohov and the faint hum of the cloaked figures circling them both. She realized that she hadn't been breathing and choked in some air.

"Do you swear your life to me and your fellow Death Eaters?" Dolohov's dark eyes looked deep into Willow's own.

"I swear my life." Willow repeated the ceremonial words she had been taught not five minutes before this very occasion. She noticed that Dolohov had stood up and had brandished his wand as if it were a sword. One of the cloaked figures nearby ripped off the sleeve of her robe, revealing Willow's naturally pale arm.

"This might sting."

Willow heard Dolohov then say an incantation that was lost to her memory... the only thing she remembered was the immense pain she felt burning onto her skin.

x0x0x

"Yes, I've heard it is quite painful."

Willow looked up a McGonagall. She had just told them how she had been inducted so quickly into the Death Eaters. McGonagall had been slightly surprised.

"Yeah, no kidding," Willow pushed the sleeve of her robes up and revealed the mark on her skin. "I wasn't ready to have my arm feel like it was going to fall off."

"If it makes you feel any better - everybody screams." Snape retorted, though not in his normal haughty tone. He had been standing in the corner for the most part of the story.

"No, it doesn't make me feel any better."

There was a silence that filled the room for a few moments, until Harry decided he had waited long enough without saying anything. Willow had hoped he'd be quiet... it was bad enough having to answer questions from Snape and McGonagall... but she thought that Harry would have exceedingly good questions (or bad from her point of view) about the goings on in the Death Eater circles.

"Willow, we are going to need everything you can remember," Harry pulled up a chair beside her and took a seat. "I know it's hard-"

"Ha!" Willow laughed, then automatically wished she hadn't. It was much more than _hard_ to go back through the past coupel of months... but she didn't have to act the way she was. "Sorry - I'm just used to being put in situations I don't like."

"I know," Harry remarked sadly.

"You don't know," Willow retaliated, "I... I... I helped bring down the Muggle British Parliament!"

"Before or after your initiation into the circle?" Snape asked from his corner. Willow shot him a glare.

"Before." Willow noticed that Harry seemed surprised by the news.

"Parliament too? I thought he made a statement saying he was only targeting national landmarks?" Harry asked incredulously.

"It's a landmark," Willow monotoned.

"We've all made sacrifices, Miss Rosenburg-" McGonagall stopped suddenly and Willow guessed that she didn't want to bring in other peoples sacrifices. Another silence filled the room which gave Willow a few seconds to think.

"I have a question." Willow spoke up. "When I would be doing these... things... I'm sure my thoughts gave me away. You said that I had some sort of protection, but I can't see how it-"

"No one told her about the potion?" Snape looked at Harry and McGonagall.

"Dumbledore thought it best." McGonagall nodded curtly in Snape's direction.

"DUMBLEDORE IS DEAD!" Snape fumed.

"Don't you raise your voice like that to me, Severus! You know perfectly well that his painting still helps us." McGonagall gave Snape a glare that Willow thought would have made any other person cry. Willow knew that she'd be on the floor crying if she was in Snape's shoes.

"Potion?" Willow interrupted, although hesitantly.

"It was designed to protect your mind from those thugs," Harry ventured. "You'll need more before you go back."

"I'm not going back," Willow said defiantly.

x0x0x

Willow stared at the mirror in front of her. The mirror was virtually complete except for one missing piece. The piece she knew was somewhere in Hogwarts. Dolohov knew that too. He had told her personally that he was waiting for the opportune moment to retrieve the last piece of the mirror.

Willow turned around as the door creaked behind her. She noticed the dark figure of Dolohov.

"I don't trust you around my mirror." He wheezed at her. "If it weren't for the Malfoys, I would have had you killed by now."

Willow ignored him and turned to look at the mirror again. She tried to memorize that missing piece's space. It was as if she were putting together a puzzle in her mind. Willow then felt a powerful pull at her arm, and realized that she was being yanked away from the mirror. Dolohov had grabbed her and had turned her arm over, revealing the Dark Mark on her forearm.

"Do you even understand what this is all about?" He spat in her face. Willow tried to look away, but he used his other hand to grab her face. "It's about purging the world of those unworthy of _this_ power." Dolohov pushed her away and pulled out his wand. "_CRUCIO_!"

Willow had no time to react to the curse before it hit her. She felt as if her bones wanted out of her body and that her skin was being ripped off of her. When the pain subsided she heard Dolohov laughing.

Pushing herself up, she challenged him. "I know power. More power than you will ever know."

"What?" Dolohov was still laughing. "Silly girl."

Willow held up one hand, completely forgetting about the wand that she should be using, and watched as Dolohov hurtled across the room and smashed into the door.

Dolohov stared at Willow, a trickle of blood pouring from his forehead, and raised his own wand towards her. "_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

Willow felt a surge of power as she created a force field to protect her from the spell. The curse bounced off the protection and then hit her in the side. She felt an immense pain and realized that she must not be dead if she could feel pain. Looking down, she saw blood pouring from a gash on her side. She looked up, waiting for Dolohov to make another move. If he did... she would _kill_ him... to hell with all the spying. He'd die.

Dolohov stared right back at her. He was leaning against the wall, obviously still in pain from her own spell. He was breathing heavily and smiling at the same time.

"I think that this will be the start of a wonderful relationship." He paused to catch his breath. "We'll discuss it over tea, after you and I have cleaned up."

x0x0x

x x x x x

"Did you see her scar?" McGonagall shook her head.

"I knew she was powerful." Harry nodded to McGonagall. The story that Willow had told them seemed incredible, but Harry believed every word. "I just hope that the dark magic doesn't take her over."

"We made a good decision in her," McGonagall's stern mouth was set, but there was a slight sadness behind her eyes.

"But, should we let Willow take the Letum Essum back to Dolohov?" Harry asked.

"Of course!" Snape butted in. "It was trying to cause harm to Miss Chase!"

"Yes, I was informed-" Harry started.

"That girl deserves her fate with Dolhov," Snape fumed at Harry. "Cordelia could have died!"

"Severus!" McGonagall's sharp tone interrupted the small spat. "What if the Letum Essum has obtained information?"

"Highly doubtful," Snape sneered.

x x x x x

Willow found herself lost down one of the many corridors in Hogwarts. She hadn't been gone too long, but she had been gone long enough to completely forget where everything was.

"Oh, my God."

Willow turned around and noticed a familiar face. "Buffy!"

The two friends ran towards each other and embraced in a huge hug. When they pulled away, Willow saw that Buffy was crying.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you, Will." Buffy sputtered.

"You don't know what it's like seeing a friendly face." Willow hugged Buffy again.

"So," Buffy sniffed and pushed away the tears. "What's going on? How are you? What's up?"

"I'm okay, I guess." Willow answered truthfully. "Not dead yet."

"I hope not," Buffy smiled. "Don't know how I'd feel if I was talking to a ghost right now."

Willow laughed. "Do you know where Xander and Cordelia are?"

"Probably off somewhere fighting about who's better at making snowballs or something." Buffy shrugged. "We'll go find them."

"That would be great."

x x x x x

"I told you they'd be fighting about who's better at making snowballs," Buffy nudged Willow.

Indeed, Willow and Buffy were listening to Xander and Cordelia talk about the winter weather. Xander was boasting about a "brilliant snowball fight" with all the Hufflepuffs attacking one another with enchanted snowballs that would melt on their target. Cordelia countered with a story about how Ravenclaws charmed the snow before it even hit the ground to make snowballs.

"Go tap 'em on the shoulder... they'll totally flip." Buffy urged her friend forward.

Willow smiled and moved forward. She tapped Cordelia on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Cordelia turned around. "Willow?"

"What?" Xander looked behind him and he nearly fell out his seat. "WILL!"

"WILLOW!" Cordelia screamed with joy.

Xander noticed Buffy behind Willow and motioned for her to come over. "Buffy, look! It's WILLOW!"

"I know," Buffy laughed. The four friends all gathered together for a group hug.

"We're so glad you're back!" Cordelia exclaimed.

"Yeah - we got your letter!" Xander pulled it out of his pocket. Willow wanted to cry. He had saved her letter.

x0x0x

Willow crept into Draco's room. She knew that he was away doing an important mission for Dolohov, so he wouldn't miss his eagle owl.

Willow looked down at the letter in her hand. She then realized that her letter could be intercepted and that everything that the Order was hoping for would crumble. She then cast a small spell on the letter and the words disappeared.

x0x0x

"You figured it out!" Willow exclaimed.

"Well, no..." Buffy shrugged.

"But, we knew you were okay." Xander hurried up after Buffy's disappointing news.

"You mean - you did write something?" Cordelia asked.

"Yeah-" Willow began.

"See, we were interrupted by a green hag with moss teeth, and her mean cat with claws... which turned into a mutant rabbit... which was pretty funny... but anyway, so it's not that we're stupid and couldn't figure it out." Xander stated in one breath.

Willow stared at Xander for a moment in awe. He smiled right back at her.

"Oh, yes, we were," Cordelia huffed.

"Just pour water on it. It reveals the message." Willow took the letter from Xander.

"Geez, Cordy." Xander shook his head. "How come you didn't think to spill some water?"

"Probably because I was too pissed off about you throwing away a perfectly good macaroni pie!"

"I won't ask." Willow laughed as she looked over at Buffy. Buffy began to laugh too.

x x x x x

Remus stared at the calendar in front of him. He had hated that the full moon fell on Christmas Day this year. It was like the ever growing pain that kept growing within him every year. The moon would always take away a special night of the year. Not only did it mean that he was going to be sick on Christmas Eve, but that he'd probably still be feeling the effects on New Year's as well.

__

Oh, the life of a werewolf...

x x x x x

Willow stepped inside the cell where the Letum Essum girl was being kept.

"Hey, I know you..." Victoria looked surprised.

"Yes," Willow lowered her voice, so it sounded as if she were more evil. "Lord Dolohov asked me to rescue you from the foes clutches."

"He used that exact wording, too, I bet." Victoria looked at Willow skeptically.

"Well, he said that if I couldn't save you that I could very well let you rot in your dungeon of a grave." Willow hissed. "I could lie and say that you were already dead when I arrived."

Willow noticed the Letum Essum's eyes flashing. For someone so incredibly stupid, she was very brave, and... creepy.

"So, are you going to release me?" Victoria asked, rustling her chains.

"Not yet," Willow put a finger on her lips to shush her. "I'll be back in a few days. I have to create an escape route."

x _chapter's end _x

__

After Thoughts: One word: whew! I told you it was a long chapter (thought not as long as I thought it would turn out). The (x0x0x)'s indicate FLASHBACKS. So, yeah. While Willow's around we get a few flashbacks as to what's been going on with her while she's being living the life of a Death Eater. And for those of you who saw the messed up version of the chapter - SORRY! The x0x0x's are what used to be (. . .)'s. FF (dot) net is evil for messing up EVERYTHING.

Thanks to all of my readers... I dedicate this long chapter to you all. Hope you liked it. I tried to get it out quickly... don't know if I succeeded on that aspect, but... heh...

If you read, please review.

Look forward to Ch. 23 entitled:

****

Rowena's Riddle

__

A bit of sleuthing turns up an ancient text.


	23. Rowena's Riddle

_Disclaimer:_ Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 23

Rowena's Riddle

x x x x x

Buffy looked at the clock. It was nearly one in the morning and the conversation she was having did not seem as if it was close to ending. Not that she minded. Talking with Willow was one of the greatest things, especially after being away from one another.

"You tired?"

Buffy shook her head, "No. It's just... the last time I saw what time it was it was eight."

Willow smiled, "Time flies when you're having fun."

"Yeah, wouldn't that be major nutty if the clock sprouted wings..." Buffy giggled slightly and Willow joined her.

"Nutty?" Willow eyed Buffy suspiciously. "Trying out a new word?"

"Nutty's a word. It's just used to describe pecans and walnuts and... other nutty things."

"I know it's a word." Willow sighed. "In fact, it's an adjective."

"Oh, God!" Buffy exclaimed with a huff. "You know I don't do grammar. I mean... nouns and adverbs and proverbs and mechaniclisms and..."

"Buffy, be quiet or you're going to hurt yourself," Willow laughed at her friend. "And I don't think I've ever heard of a mechaniclism."

"I know!"

The two friends laughed again. They both sighed and enjoyed a comfortable silence.

"Hey, Will?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you find out anything about the mirror?" Buffy looked Willow in the eyes.

"Oh no," Willow cried in exasperation. "Not you too!"

"What do you mean?" Buffy blinked in awe at Willow's sudden mood swing. Willow time with Death Eaters was beginning to do funny things to her. Buffy hoped that it wasn't making Willow return to the dark magic.

"Oh, Buffy," Willow's shoulders slouched. "It's just that all the Order people drilled me as soon as I got here. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just-"

"You don't have to apologize." Buffy waved her hand. "I should have kept it to myself."

"No, don't worry about it," Willow shrugged. "All I know is that Dolohov knows that the last piece is at Hogwarts somewhere. I don't think he knows exactly where, because if he did, I'm sure I'd know."

"How'd he find out?" Buffy wondered aloud. "I thought Harry and Hermione said that Dolohov didn't know where the last piece was."

"Oh, I don't think he was sure until recently." Willow explained. "I think he deduced that the last piece was at Hogwarts."

"I bet he has spies," Buffy whispered, her eyes darting around the room.

"No," Willow shook her head and laughed. "He knows about you, Xander, and Cordy. He thinks that you guys have been brought in to help protect the mirror."

"Damn... he deduced all that?"

"Guess so." Willow rubbed her arm and Buffy noticed a black mark on her skin.

"What's that?" Buffy pointed at Willow's arm.

"You don't want to know," Willow placed a hand over her arm. "It's bad."

"Did they make you get a tattoo?"

"Sort of." Willow mumbled.

"Will..." Buffy whined.

"Really, Buffy, it's horrible. It hurt like... like..."

"Hell?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Buffy shrugged. "It's okay. If you don't want to show anybody. You don't have to."

"Thank you," Willow heaved a sigh of relief.

x x x x x

Cordelia wrapped the scarf around her neck tighter. The snow had stopped falling, but she figured that it would decide to start up again at any moment. Cordelia didn't really like snow, but she liked it better than being followed around by a bunch of first years that kept asking her stupid and pointless questions. Not that she was bitter. Oh, no.

Cracking open her book, Cordelia began to read. The book was by the Grimm Brothers. She had learned, from the forward, that the Grimm brothers were really wizards and that their stories were so well known that even Muggles read them. However, the Muggles believed them to be works of fiction. Cordelia laughed at the thought of the Disney versions of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. They were nothing like the real tales in the book.

"Bit cold to be reading outside, isn't it?"

Cordelia looked up. "Harry?"

"In the flesh." Harry sat down next to Cordelia and looked at the spine of the book she held in her hands. "Ah... the real fairy tales."

"Yeah," Cordelia nodded as she dog-eared one of the pages and shut the book tight. "Had to escape all five hundred of my shadows."

Harry laughed. "They look up to you."

"But, do they have to know everything about my past, present, and future?" Cordelia huffed and then she breathed in some cold air to calm herself down. "Sorry - there's a lot on my mind."

Harry didn't answer, he only nodded. Cordelia knew all about Harry's past and she thought it rude on her part to act as if something as miniscule as first years following her around was worse than having every member of the wizarding race know your name and everything about your life.

"Do you remember when we first met?"

Cordelia was slightly stunned. She hadn't thought he could be so random.

"I remember telling you about my visions and you blindfolding me." Cordelia remarked with a smile.

"Yes, that was when I thought you were mental." Harry laughed. "Speaking of visions... have you had any lately?"

"No, I haven't had one in a long while. My last vision was about Remus on a full moon, but it hasn't happened yet." Cordelia paused. "I probably won't be getting another vision any time soon, either."

"You know when you're going to get a vision?"

"No... but... well... this is going to sound crazy."

"No," Harry said sarcastically. "You? Mental?"

"Shut up." Cordelia playfully swat at his arm. "There's a sort of force that's stopping the visions right now."

Harry looked at Cordelia as if she was wearing pink zebra stripes and bubba teeth. _If he even knew what bubba teeth were_... Cordelia thought.

"I'm serious," Cordelia continued. "I was told... er... I mean... I can feel it."

"You can feel this force around you?" Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. The action reminded Cordelia of something Giles or Wesley would do.

"Yeah, and it's not like the Star Wars force, either..."

"Never saw those movies," Harry admitted. "My cousin Dudley kept all his videos away from me. And now that I live here... all the magic can mess up any sort of electronic."

"You poor deprived child," Cordelia shook her head.

x x x x x

Every since Willow had told Buffy that Dolohov knew more than he should, Buffy was bound and determined to keep the mirror piece hidden for good. She devoted most of her time to reading in the library. Especially in the Restricted Section.

She had found a lot of books about the four founders of Hogwarts. Buffy knew everything about their history after the first hour she was in the library. But, she wanted the dirt... the good stuff. Even in the Restricted Section it was hard to find dirt on anyone but Salazar Slytherin. She found out that even though Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor were all upstanding wizards... that each had a secret. Even though no book told her about any secret... she knew they had one. But, she was only concerned with Rowena Ravenclaws secrets.

_One more book, _Buffy thought_, and it's dinnertime for me._

Buffy read a few of the spines and none of the names called out to her. Buffy sighed and went back to her chair and noticed a book that someone had left sitting on one of the tables...

Misterius Misteries in Wyzard Scools

Apart from the bad spelling, Buffy could make out that this book might actually have something. After all, didn't one of Rowena's students disappear through the mirror? That would be considered a mystery. At least in Buffy's mind it did.

Buffy opened the book and skimmed through the appendix. She found something on mirrors and flipped to the page indicated. When she saw the picture, she couldn't believe her eyes.

There was a stately witch, dressed in blue, with a hammer in her hand and a broken mirror behind her. The witch was crying and Buffy noticed that in each of the mirror pieces there were a few young kids (she figured it was only their reflection) also weeping. Buffy read the sentence below the picture and it confirmed her suspicions.

Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the for fownders of Hog Warts Scool of Wyches and Wyzards, smashes her belovd mirra wen one of her stoodents was lost throw its pawer.

Buffy quickly turned her attention to the other page. She continued reading and she realized that she was about to read a small passage of text that Rowena had left for the Headmaster/mistress to use in case they ever needed the mirror's powers. The book called it a map to the mirror...

within this text  
silabels  
hold the kee

below or abov  
hid'n  
by thos we lov

owtsid for you to find  
be wari, oh  
deth is a sancshewary

Do not tuch,  
For on your hands,  
magyckle debarr'd.  
blud will gush.

clus ar heer  
eleven, seventeen  
unerth the mystry

Buffy stared at the words. It wasn't a map... it was a poem. Of course it was a poem. She should have known that it would have been something like that... something where she couldn't figure it out. Not that she wasn't smart, but she certainly didn't have poem book smarts. This was a job for Willow or Hermione or Lupin... not her.

x _chapter's end _x

_After Thoughts:_ If you read, I'd love to know what you think. Please hit the review button and fill me in!

And, wow! Quick update, huh? If you read the last chapter and you had a problem reading it, because of FF (dot) net being evil, it's fixed. Just in case ... you know.

Thanks to all of my reviewers/readers.

Look forward to Ch. 24 entitled:

Death Eaters and the Letum Essum

Dumbledore knows best.


	24. Death Eaters and the Letum Essum

__

Disclaimer: Buffy characters are the property of Mr. Whedon. Harry Potter characters are the property of Ms. Rowling. I do own the story that I am writing, but I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. So, yeah, if you decide to sue... I'm uber-broke.

****

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 24

Death Eaters and the Letum Essum

x x x x x

Remus Lupin could always tell when the full moon was near. And every month he would hope that the days before the full moon would never come to pass. They always did.

"Remus!"

Remus looked up and waved his wand at the door. It opened and Severus Snape walked in.

"I have your potion."

"Thank you, Severus." Remus rubbed his temples. "I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"You probably won't be able to," Snape shrugged. "Never you mind, I'd much rather have the werewolf of the castle be peaceful than angry, like he was last time..."

Remus shook his head and didn't notice that Snape was gone until he looked up again. He took a sip of the potion and made a face. It wasn't the most pleasant of things to drink. He then downed the entire contents of the cup and placed it down with a loud clank.

"Uh... Remus?"

Remus looked up and noticed the ever beautiful Buffy. He wiped the potion from his lips and stood up quickly. "Buffy."

"Afternoon whiskey?" Buffy pointed towards the now empty cup.

"My potion." He breathed in deeply and exhaled. "Why do I have the pleasure of your company?"

"English."

"That _was _in English."

"No, I mean, that's the reason. I have a poem to show you." Buffy held out a sheet of paper.

Remus grabbed the paper and looked down. His heart was thumping... she had written him a love poem. Though her spelling was rather shotty... wait...

"What is this?"

"I think I found the puzzle that leads to the last piece of the mirror." Buffy explained. "I found it in an old book in the Restricted Section. When I was in school, I never had time to really pay attention in English... so I was hoping you could decipher it. I think it's talking about clues hidden in the poem."

"Yes, I believe so." Remus agreed. "But, I can't make anything out, the spelling is so bad. I think I'll have to rewrite it and then we'll show McGonagall. I'm sure she's seen it before..."

There was a pause and Buffy began to shuffle towards the door. "Well... I'll be off. Just thought you might want to know." Buffy pointed at the paper in his hands.

"Buffy?" Remus placed the paper down and crosses his arms against his chest. "Are you busy Christmas Eve?"

"No... why?"

"I was hoping we could have lunch together."

x x x x x

"No, no, Ron!"

"What?"

"Put the crystal doves over here."

Cordelia and Ron had been working in the Great Hall together all morning. After breakfast they had decided to stay and help with decorations.

"I don't see why it's so important for them to go in a specific place." Ron muttered.

"It's Christmas. Things have to be perfect!" Cordelia retorted with a smile on her face.

"Fine, the doves go over there. Now... what about the mistletoe?"

"Are you trying to suggest something?" Cordelia teased.

"That's not very funny, Cordelia." A voice interrupted their fun. "Ronald would never suggest something like that."

__

Of course, Cordelia thought,_ it's Hermione._

"Would you, Ronald?" Hermione tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for an answer.

"Er... no."

"No, what?"

"No, dear."

Cordelia laughed under her breath.

"Well, I really must take Ron away from decorating for a moment. Auror business." Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and began to pull him away.

"I'm practically an Auror too, you know!" Cordelia's nostrils flared with anger. Not very many things could make her angry anymore, but Hermione certainly had a way to make Cordelia feel anger. Cordelia figured it was their clashing personalities. "Just in case you haven't realized. I'm helping you and the Order, Miss Priss. You don't have to drag him out of the room just to tell him something."

"Oh, yes, I do!" Hermione snapped.

"Hermione..." Ron pleaded. "Why? She's not a Death Eater."

"Don't you remember anything?" Hermione huffed. "The day they made us Aurors... you took an oath! An oath, Ron!"

"Oh, yeah," Ron smiled, "Bloody hard oath to memorize too."

Hermione looked to Cordelia, "We'll see you." Then she turned around and grabbed Ron by the arm. "Let's go."

"Bitch." Cordelia muttered.

"Who?" Xander looked at Cordelia as he entered the Great Hall. They weren't very far apart, and it startled Cordelia.

"Nothing," Cordelia muttered as she slowly moved her hand from her heart. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"What I do?"

"And the Dumb-Ass Award goes to..." Cordelia bobbed her head.

"Who?"

"God..."

x x x x x

Willow stared at the potion that McGonagall was holding. She remembered the last time she had had to drink the stuff. Not only was it, for lack of a better word, chunky, but it smelled horrible. Willow gulped, perhaps warning her stomach to prepare whatever stomachs prepare with bad tasting things...

"Here," McGonagall handed Willow a larger portion than she had expected. "We have to up the dosage, or else it won't work as long."

Willow slowly reached out for the cup and closed her eyes. This was going to taste... bad...

x0x0x

"_Imperio_!"

Willow felt her head go light as she stared at the scene before her. She turned to try and find the voice that had just shouted an incantation, but she couldn't take her eyes away... there were thousands of people screaming. It was complete chaos.

__

Move, now... move away.

Willow turned, trying to find the person who said those words. She saw a Death Eater that she didn't know very well. He was holding up a piece of the mirror. She stood for a moment, transfixed as to why a piece of the mirror was brought here. Then her body began to feel immense pain.

__

I need to move, Willow thought. As soon as she took a step, the pain began to subside, as she continued to move, the pain was gone.

__

Now, shake the earth, with that power of yours.

"What-OW!" Willow watched as her own hands began to move and she heard words start to come out of her mouth. She was about to start an earthquake. Oh, this was not good. What was wrong with her.

The earth began to shake and Willow felt the building before her crumble.

__

No, Willow tried to scream, but realized that she couldn't talk. _NO!_

"Parliament! Not Parliament!" A woman's voice interrupted Willow thoughts. Willow turned around and saw that the mirror that the Death Eater was holding seemed to be reaching out, and pulling the broken pieces of the building into it's glassy depths.

x0x0x

Willow stuck out her tongue and handed McGonagall the now empty glass. "Eugh... that's disgusting."

"Yes," McGonagall nodded her head. "Now, you must return, and take the Letum Essum with you, or else Dolohov will think that something has happened."

Willow shook her head, the taste of the potion still in her mouth. "I don't want to."

"But you must!"

"Do you know how horrible it is being evil? I - well - it's not fun. I hate how it makes me feel." Willow crossed her arms and realized how childish she looked. She uncrossed them quickly and decided that a hard stare might work better. "I won't."

"If you don't do this-"

Willow looked over at Harry. He had been relatively quiet for a while and he had let McGonagall do all of the talking, but then he had to go and ruin his silence. She held up her hands and waved him away. He disappeared in mid-sentence.

"What... where did he go?" McGonagall looked surprised. "How..."

"I think he's somewhere around the Great Hall." Willow mumbled. "He's fine."

"But... no one can Apparate in Hogwarts." McGonagall stared at Willow and shook her head. "It's impossible."

"Look," Willow huffed, "don't get off the subject. I'm not going back."

"Oh, yes you will."

"I said... what?" Willow had heard that voice only a few times before. It was only a voice from a painting, but it still held a lot of authority.

"Dumbledore, if she doesn't want to-" McGonagall started.

"She must return for all of our sakes to save every witch and wizard from Dolohov's harm. If he gets the last piece of Rowena's mirror... we we all pass into the world of chaos." The portrait of Dumbledore stopped and he seemed to be thinking. "Willow, how did you feel when Dolohov used the Imperious Curse on you?"

"Is that what that was?" Willow stared at Dumbledore. His blue eyes weren't twinkling as they had before. Instead they were deep in thought and seemed very concerned. "Well, it felt awful."

"Just think if Dolohov pushed this world into chaos and every wizard, witch, and muggle would be under the same curse." Dumbledore paused again, but not for long. "What happened to you that day, is only a mere blip compared to what could happen should he get his hands on the last mirror piece. Willow, you are the Order's only hope of keeping us in tune with Dolohov's plans."

McGonagall looked at Willow and gave her a nod as if to say that what Dumbledore said was true.

"No one ever said that doing the right thing was easy, Miss Rosenburg." Dumbledore nodded and his flowing, white beard seemed to wave. Then a twinkle came back into his eyes. "Now, would you please use some of your marvelous magic skills and bring back Mr. Potter?"

x x x x x

Buffy seemed to float back to her room. As soon as she was inside her room, she ran quickly to the chest beside her bed and pulled out a quill. It was enchanted to never run out of ink, since she had no idea how to blot or anything else...

Buffy hurried to her flip calendar (it had pictures of famous witches and wizards on the pictures for each day of the year) and hurriedly flipped to Christmas Eve. She put a large heart on Christmas Eve and then flipped over to Christmas Day.

Buffy gasped. The tiny letters spelled out.

__

Full Moon, Christmas Day

x x x x x

Willow stared at Victoria as the both grabbed onto the piece of the mirror. Willow hoped that the Whomping Willow didn't decide to whomp as she whispered the few words she had been told would bring her back.

The trip back was a lot less dramatic and Willow found herself on a stone, marble floor.

"Thank you Willow." Dolohov held out his hand to help Willow up. "I take it you had no trouble."

"Only a little," Willow was happy that she wasn't lying.

"Oh, Master!" Victoria squealed as she threw herself down in front of Dolohov. "Master! I knew you would save me. I tried to get the werewolf to join with you, hoping that he would release me. But, I should have known that you were going to rescue me!"

"Do you have the mirror?"

"Yes..." Victoria's smile seemed to twist into a cruel shape. "They thought that they got the mirror that I used... but they don't know of your powers, Master!"

"Good girl," Dolohov rolled his eyes. "Give it to me."

Victoria held out her hand and Dolohov held out his. A large shard of glass appeared out of thin air and flew into Dolohov's hands. He tossed it to Draco, who wasn't exactly ready to catch a piece of glass. Willow saw a drop of blood spill on the floor.

"The minions are doing well if these are the only visions she has recieved," Draco inhaled sharply when the glass cut him again, as he tried to look deeper into the glass.

"See, Master!" Victoria pointed at Draco and the mirror piece. "Are you pleased?"

"Hardly," Dolohov's voice seemed more of a growl. Willow didn't realize it, but she took a step away from Victoria. "You went and had yourself caught! A failure in my eyes!"

"B-but... I-I..."

Dolohov turned to Draco. Dolohov took the mirror piece from him and then motioned towards Victoria. "You know what to do."

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

Willow watched as Victoria's eyes opened wide. The green light hit her before she had even known what was happening. The lifeless body flopped quickly to the ground; a small thud echoed around the room.

"Willow, dear," Dolohov turned around to look at her. He motioned towards the dead girl on the floor. "If you don't mind?"

Willow nodded and hurriedly asked her question, before Dolohov could leave the room. "Lord Dolohov?"

"Yes?"

"How did she get to the Seer?"

x _chapter's end _x

__

After Thoughts: Meh. I'm going to hold off on TLG for a little while. Only if I have more time than needed will I update here. I've got some other priorities that need my attention.

HOWEVER - I will come back to finish this story - because it's probably one of the most complex and intricate plots I've ever had the pleasure of calling my own. I just need a break from it, because I don't love writing it as much as I used to. As I'm sure some of you can tell ... what with the lack of reviews and such.

Thank you to:

****

SpikesDreamer - Thanks for your review. No, I'm not acting like Dawn never existed... I just didn't need her for this story. :) And, I haven't been asked that yet, so go you! She still exists and she might get mentioned in passing (like when Buffy and Remus get to talking more) later on.

****

William Fakespeare - You've got the best name. Ever. Nah, I'm not that evil to give such subtle wordplay about how Dawn is the key to everything. In fact, the riddle is very hard to guess at... it took me at least a day to make sure all the math was right. Might just be because I'm bad at math. Hmm...

****

Zantac the Barbarian - Your STILL the coolest reviewer - EVER! (Because you know that I always like reading your reviews.) Thanks for all those wonderful reviews, yo. Yo! Just had to say it twice, y'know?

****

Superfan - Dude, Lost is so much cooler. Heh. Hey, that Tom Welling guy (isn't he from Smallville?) and Lost's own Maggie Grace are going to be in a movie together. It's like... weird isn't it? Thanks for reading and reviewing.

****

Mama T - I think you've been with me from the beginning. Oh, parting is such sweet sorrow. Well, I do promise I'll update this again! I always do. Thanks for all those lovely reviews.

Anna, Brutal2003, Slinky-and-the-BloodyWands, Hoosier Daddy, IsiwaruofCkaloatia, and everyone else who has read and reviewed.


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